


Baby Steps

by orphan_account



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Dad!Gaster, Gaster doesn't know how the be a dad, Gaster is a bit of an asshat, Gen, adorable sans and papyrus, baby bones, but he tries, skelebros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 04:22:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 21,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6141367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>W.D. Gaster isn't sure how he got in a position where he is the royal scientist tasked with freeing the entire monster race AND single father of 2 active baby bones, but somehow he will make it work. (one-shots concerning Dad!Gaster and his struggles raising the adorable Sans and Papyrus)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What We Miss

**Author's Note:**

> This story contains some of my headcanons regarding Gaster and the skelebros, so feel free to ask if anything is unclear.

A thin strip of light illuminated the room as the door was pushed open just a fraction.

Sans could see the lump under the sheets that was his father, curled facing the other way and seemingly deep asleep. He pushed the door a bit more, ignoring the soft crack it elicited.

"Is he in there?" His younger brother, Papyrus, asked from behind him. The child was making an effort to talk in a whisper, which was a hard feat for him.

"Come on." Sans answered, slipping through the crack of the bedroom door and tip-toeing towards his parent's bed. Papyrus followed him in, with about as much grace as one could expect from a 5 year old.

Gaster was an early riser at the best of times. Most days he had already left for his lab by the time his sons woke up, leaving behind a note and some food to make it through the day.

Sans tried his best to not be bitter about this, he understood his father was a scientist, _the_ royal scientist to be precise, and he was working on freeing the entirety of the monster race. He had even promised Sans they might work together someday, when the young skeleton was a bit older.

In the meantime, Sans had enough on his plate trying to keep his younger sibling out of trouble and making up for a very absent father.

The two monster children managed to cross the room without waking up their father and climbed the bed, Sans had to help pull Papyrus up since it was pretty high.

The brothers gave each other a mischievous glance, took a breath and simultaneously yelled.

"GOOD MORNING, DADDY!"

Gaster shot up in a flurry, eyes shinning bright orange and blue with repressed magic. The sudden movement effectively send the younger sibling backwards over the edge of the bed even as the oldest burst out in a fit of giggles.

Their father took a second to wake up properly. His sons were lucky he had such complete control over his magic, or he might have blasted them both out of the room entirely by accident.

In fact, he might still do that, on purpose.

"What are you two doing?" Gaster asked warily, an odd concoction of both irritation and fondness in his voice.

Sans had turned around to observe his brother lying on the floor besides the bed, also laughing hard. He extended his arm to pull Papyrus up once again.

"We came to wake you." Sans stated matter-of-factly, not even suppressing a grin at his fathers debauched state.

"Evidently, you have done that quite effectively..." Gaster murmured under his breath.

Papyrus was now standing up on the bed and bouncing around, risking a repeat performance of his earlier tumble any moment.

"We want to play!" The child cried, shaking his father slightly. "You are almost never home, but today you are, and we want to play."

Gaster frowned at his sons nagging. It wasn't like a royal scientist had a lot of vacation days, and the few they did have should be spent catching up on missed sleep, as he had been doing just now.

Obviously, his babybones had other plans.

"I know I'm not often home, Pap." He said gently, pulling the child down by the hem of his PJ's, lest he fall off the bed again and crack his skull. "But daddy has very important work and gets very tired."

Papyrus pouted but settled down anyway, half-lying in the crook of his father's arm.

Sans scooted closer, taking up Gaster's other side, so their father was now trapped between 2 small skeleton bodies.

"Daddy is working very hard to destroy the barrier, so all the monsters can go live on the surface again." Sans told his brother, obviously very proud of his father's life goal.

Gaster smiled. Sans was an extremely intelligent child, even at his current 12 years old he already spent many hours stealing his fathers scientific notes and reading through them, making his own set of scribbles.

He would certainly be a most helpful lab assistant one day.

"What are we going to do once we get to the surface?" Papyrus questioned innocently. At his age there didn't seem a reason to leave the underground, everything they could possibly want was down here anyway.

Ignorance is bliss.

Both children turned to look at their father expectantly. He was the expert when it came to the surface world, after all.

"We will...uh..." Gaster hesitated a bit. It wasn't usual for his logical mind to get ahead of himself like that. He had been so busy finding a way to reach the surface, he had barely spared a thought for what they would do once there.

But 2 sets of eye sockets were still looking at him, waiting for an answer. So he improvised.

"We'll get a house with a big garden..." He began, knowing it was the right thing to say by the look of pure happiness on his sons faces. "So you two can enjoy the fresh air anytime you want. I'll buy you bikes, so you can cross around the garden all day long, and in the winter we can build snowmen or throw snowballs without having to pay a tax."

"And without having to go all the way to Snowdin." Sans helpfully provided.

Gaster nodded. "We'll go camping so we can discover all the beautiful nature the surface has to offer. We'll go to the beach and see the sea for the first time. I won't have to work so much anymore, of course."

Just like that, Gaster had become invested in the fantasy himself.

"There is actual wind up there, not like the draft we sometimes get in the caverns, so Pap can finally fly that kite he found at the garbage dump. And Sans will be able to use his telescope to see real stars for a change."

Without realizing it Gaster had stared addressing himself instead of his sons. Not that it mattered, as both children had drifted off to sleep listening to their father's low contemplation.

Gaster sighed. Maybe it wasn't that bad to get ahead on business form time to time. It reminds you what you do it for.

He closed his eyes and dreamt of babybones playing in the grass, with real sunshine on their bones.


	2. Patience

"When is daddy coming home?"

Instead of answering, Sans gazed at the clock on their wall, trying to make out the numbers. With some effort, the young skeleton could ascertain it was nearing 6 PM now, it had been over 24 hours since either had seen their father.

The previous day, Gaster had not been there when they woke up, as was usual. He left a note and some food on the kitchen table, as was also usual.

Sans and Papyrus were unsurprised by now. Washing and dressing themselves, getting themselves to school,... It was routine for them.

But that evening, Gaster didn't come home, which was unusual.

The skeleton brothers had heated up the spaghetti, Pap's favorite, that their father had left them, expecting him to walk in any second now.

He hadn't.

They did their homework, made some puzzles together and watched TV.

Still no sign of him.

By then it was getting way late already, so Sans brought his little brother to his bed and read him a bedtime story, before taking up vigil on the couch.

He had actually fallen asleep like that, stretched out over the sofa. He woke up the next morning with an uncomfortable stiffness in his bones and no sign of his father returning.

And today had been exactly the same.

"I'm sure he can be here any moment now, Pap." Sans answered levelly, stroking his sibling over the head to conceal his own worry. "I can feel it in my bones."

The child huffed at him, but was smiling anyway. Then he looked sour again. "Sans, I'm hungry."

"Ok, why don't we cook up something ourselves?" The young skeleton started opening the cupboards in search of something edible.

As meticulous as Gaster was in his work, as negligent was he when it came to getting groceries. Sans often found himself making sure there was food in their house.

While monsters didn't need food in the same way humans did, it was still a necessity for generating their magic and by extensions their life force. Especially for still growing monsters, like Papyrus and Sans himself, it was essential.

But as feared, their options were pretty limited right now.

Sans was pulled out of his thoughts by an insistent hand tugging at his trouser leg. "Can we make spaghetti?" Papyrus asked as he grins up at his brother.

There's a gap in his smile, a tooth missing because of some playground brawl. Sans had half a mind to find whomever did this and make sure they had an extremely bad time, but Pap didn't want him to.

He only wanted to make friends.

"We already ate spaghetti yesterday, buddy. Besides, I wouldn't know how to make pasta sauce. Do you?"

Papyrus stared into the void for a second, as only a five your old could, then shook his head.

"Didn't think so." Sans opened the fridge and pulled out some eggs. "How about an omelet instead?"

"Ok." Papyrus was dragging a chair over so he could actually reach the stove. Sans himself was barely tall enough to navigate it properly.

He hoped they didn't set the house on fire.

20 minutes and a lot of improvising later, they were done.

The floor was littered with broken eggshells (and one or two eggs that had just been dropped completely) and the air had a distinctly burnt smell to it.

The dish itself looked slightly darker than it should be. (read: completely scorched)

Overall, the kitchen was a mess and their meal barely edible.

Papyrus was laughing in triumph all the same.

"Nyeheheh, we are master-chefs!" The child cried, swinging around the whiskers dangerously, prompting Sans to snatch it off him, lest he poke someone's eyes out.

" _Bonefide_ cooking geniuses." He conceded, morose mood forgotten for the time being.

The two settled at the table to taste the fruit of their labor.

As expected, it tasted like it looked: terrible.

Luckily, Sans could always count on his trusty ketchup to drown away the taste of burnt nastiness and replace it with tomato-y goodness.

It drove his father up the wall, especially since the 12-year old had the bad habit of stealing the bottle from the fridge and actually carrying it with him where-ever he went. (drove the teachers insane too, by the way)

Papyrus happily munched away at his scrambled eggs as if they did not appear to be a nuclear disaster. Sans was fairly certain his brother's taste buds had some kind of major malfunction.  
The kid would simply eat anything, as long as it wasn't too greasy.

They were just finishing up their improvised dinner when the front door opened and a debauched Gaster finally strolled in.

He immediately noticed the utter shambles his house was in and looked on the verge of a minor breakdown.

Before he had any chance to start ranting though, his two sons practically glomped him, hugging tight and inhaling the chemical smell still clinging to his lab coat.

Any anger burned itself out right then and there.

"Guess you guys were pretty _bonely_ without me, huh?" He managed, forcing a tired smile on his face.

Papyrus thumped his leg softly in annoyance, while Sans merely giggled into his coat.

"We were really worried dad. I..." Sans hesitated a moment, as if considering if he should even voice this thought out loud. "I was scared you wouldn't come back."

Gaster knelt down to be level with his children and grabbed his eldest son by the shoulders, eye socket meeting eye socket in an intense gaze.

"Don't say things like that, Sans. I'm so very close to completing the core, it demands a lot of my attention. But I would never leave you two. You are the only thing more important to me than my work. But my work is important for the entirety of monster-kind. You understand this, right?"

The young skeleton nodded meekly, prompting his father to stand up again and survey the mess that was his kitchen. There was still a trace of tension in Sans' face though.

Papyrus saw, and had the distinct feeling of something going completely over his head.

"We're going to need to clean this. King Asgore is going to come tomorrow to discuss project DT, I can't possibly receive him with my house looking like this."

"We'll help, Daddy." Papyrus immediately chimed in. Unlike his older sibling, Pap was a very orderly person. He even broke into Sans' room from time to time, because he wanted to tidy it.

Sans was fairly certain Gaster dropped Pap on the skull when he was still a baby, there was simply no other explanation.

"Welp, you have fun doing that." Sans tried backing out, already making his way out the room, but his father simply grabbed him by the back of his hoodie to stop him in his tracks.

"Nice try, young man." he chided. "You helped make this mess, you'll help clean it."

Sans frowned. Damn him for not being able to control his short-cuts yet...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It would make my day if you left a comment? ^_^


	3. Our Future

The sound of the doorbell disturbed the relative peace of the Fonts household. Relative, seeing as Papyrus was playing 'humans and monsters', running through the house high and low yelling at some invisible army apparently at his every command.

At first he had tried roping his older brother into joining the game, but as much as Sans loved Pap, he didn't feel like being chased around the rooms pretending to be a human yet again.

Especially since the game unavoidably ended with Papyrus taking a running jump off the staircase to land on top of his bro, which was not a good idea considering the latter had only 1 HP.

So imaginary human hunting it was.

Now the child ran at full throttle to get to the door before anybody else did, which wasn't much of a risk seeing as Gaster was currently in his lab and Sans was frankly too lazy to bother getting off the couch.

Papyrus threw open the door and was immediately cast in shadow by the giant monster that stood before him.

"Sans! King Fluffybuns is at our door!"

The goat monster blushed an undignified pink color but decided not to comment. He had met Papyrus once or twice on those rare occurrences where he visited the Royal Scientist in his house and knew how overzealous the youngest child was.

It reminded him vaguely of the children he had once had, what seemed like ages ago. The thought hurt in a way Asgore rather not dwell on.

"Hello, child. Can I come in."

The small skeleton nodded vigorously, getting out of the doorway to allow passage. Asgore closed the door behind him.

"I should warn you though." Papyrus said softly, eye holes narrowing conspiratorially, standing on his tiptoes in a pretense of whispering in Asgore's ear, as if that would make any difference.

"There is a human on the loose in the house."

The king nodded, playing along with the child's game. "Is there? That is indeed quite frightening."

"Worry not, King. I, the great Papyrus, will capture the human and keep you safe." The child was bouncing in excitement, an oversized red scarf fluttering behind him, resembling a cape.

"Very well. I guess that would make you my royal guard, then." Asgore smiled.

Papyrus opened his mouth as if to answer but paused, processing those words. Then his eyes widened and lightened up even brighter, if at all possible.

In a heartbeat the skeleton child was off, racing down the hallway into the living room.

Sans sat up straight as his younger sibling bounded into the room, practically jumping into his lap and grabbing his shoulders, shaking him excitingly.

Good thing he didn't posses the physical requirements to get a whiplash.

"Sans! Sans! I'MGOINGTOBEAROYALGUARD,SANS!" Good thing they didn't need to breath either.

"What's up, bro?" Sans gently took his brothers wrists and removed them from his blue jacket.

King Asgore entered the room, awkward smile on his face. While he didn't mind being alone with these children as such, he was quite the busy man, and he had really come to see Gaster.

Plus, if Papyrus got any more excited, the king may be witness to accidental fratricide.

"Hello, young man. Is your father currently home?"

Sans had the decency to remove Pap from his lap and stand up, vaguely remembering his father telling him it was the respectable thing to do when in the presence of royalty.

"He's in his lab. It's down the hallway, second door on the right." Sans inclined his head in said direction, knowing full well Asgore was aware where the lab was located.

He had funded it, after all.

"He's always down there..." Papyrus pouted behind him, slight bitterness tinging his voice.

The king frowned at that, but decided not to comment.

While most of Gaster's work was situated in the official royal science facility located in Hotland, the private lab was built both for personal projects as well as those things that deemed a certain... discreet atmosphere.

Gaster had firmly forbidden both his sons from ever setting a foot down there. Sans still went sometimes, when his father wasn't in. He didn't understand half the things he saw in that dark cellar, but was determined in finding out someday.

"Thank you. I'll go have my meeting with him then." Asgore smiled at the children once more, beginning to leave the room.

At the doorway, he paused, turning around to address Papyrus. "There is a young girl whom comes by the palace from time to time... Maybe you could meet her someday."  
Then he was gone, heavy footfalls down the stairway leading to the lab.

The brothers were silent for a second, before Papyrus clung to Sans' sleeve once more.

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a royal guard." He stated firmly, ever-present optimism back in his voice. "I'll be the best guard ever and capture enough humans to free all the monsters."

Sans patted his younger brother's skull, smiling down at him. "Of course, bro."

"What are you going to be when we grow up?"

Sans shrugged. His father was very determined that his eldest son would follow in his footsteps one day and become a scientist. He was already talking about making Sans his official lab assistant when he got a bit older.

But... while he though science was easy and maybe even interesting, Sans didn't relish the thought of all the responsibilities that came with being a royal scientist.

"I'll just sell hotdogs or something."

Papyrus thumped him on the arm harshly, face scrunching up in annoyance. "You lazybones. I guess I'll have to take care of the family..."

"Sure, bro." Sans winked down at him. "But if you ever want to be able to catch a human, you better start practicing." And he was off.

Sans was quite a fast runner if he wanted to be. Not to mention an incredible dodger.

They ran through the rooms like that, for the moment forgetting about their possible future as guardsman or hotdog seller, and just being children instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick shout out to the people who decided to comment. You guys make me feel epic! (so more comments are surely appreciated *nudge nudge*)


	4. Depersonalization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This contains some vague headcanons as to what Gaster's work is.
> 
> And things get a tad dark, sorry about that...

Gaster had never seen a body before.

Which was only logical. When a monster dies, their corporal form almost instantly disintegrates, leaving behind only a small pile of dust.

No blood, no mess, nothing...

Humans aren't as easy. Their body crumples and breaks and spills in the most fascinating ways.

Over time, it decays, wastes away like a flower in winter, slowly and deliberately.

He knew this, but he had never actually witnessed it.

When the human child adopted by the royal family died, after a prolonged illness nobody could quite explain, the remains had not been seen by any of the Underground inhabitants.

When a fallen human was discovered and hunted down like some kind of precious material, which in fact it was, the soul was gathered, but what happened to the body... nobody knew.

Nobody cared. Because they had come one step closer to finally being released from their subterranean prison.

So Gaster never saw the bodies. Only the souls, and those were easy to depersonalize, easy to not be viewed as actual living things, but instead as the tools he employed in his research.

The subjects which he tested with.

Not this time.

Golden strands of hair splayed out beneath the head like a halo. Combined with the almost peaceful look on their face, Gaster could almost convince himself this human was merely sleeping.

The illusion was cruelly broken by the small trickle of blood dripping down the corner of the child's mouth, and the mess that used to be their torso.

Gaster could see a small, pearly-white rib poking through the flesh and clothes, horribly bend in a way it should not be.

As the royal scientist, he had known about the inside of humans, but the sight itself made him slightly uncomfortable.

They were so small. So young.

"Where do you want it?" The monster who brought the corpse in seemed entirely unfazed by it. It was the same person who usually brought Gaster the souls.

The tiny, quivering heart was contained in a glass tube, green color shining slightly as it persisted in life.

Still filled with determination and kindness.

"Just lay it on there." Gaster gestured to a nearby table, cleared of notes and equipment to accommodate the unusual delivery.  
The child looked unbearably small laying upon it.

The guardsman turned around to leave, pausing at Gaster's desk to present him some papers to sign. It was almost ridiculously casual.

Like they were not dealing in death and suffering.

As he picked up a stray pen, his workspace had always been a messy one, the other monster glanced down and noticed the frame on the royal scientist's desk.

Idly turning it around to get a better look, there suddenly crept a smile up their face.

"They're cute. Yours?"

Gaster had to try very hard to swallow the sarcastic response threatening to leave his mouth immediately. Instead, he forced a mild smile, an easy task for a skeleton, as they were almost permanently grinning anyway. "They are."

It was a photograph taken a few months ago, by none other than Gaster himself. It had actually been part of some school assignment Papyrus had to make, which required you bring pictures of your immediate family.

And while Gaster did not peg himself as the sentimental type at all, he couldn't possibly refuse, when it turned out Sans had acquired and extra copy for the sole purpose of giving his father a gift.

It was about the only personal item he allowed into the workspace.

The papers were sorted out and handed over in quick order, Gaster being vaguely grateful the other had not inquired into the presence of a significant other.

"See ya next time, doc."

Gaster hummed and made a vague hand gesture. While he did not relish having to work with organic human material, however unique of an opportunity it might be, the royal scientist guessed he better get it over with.

At least then he could get back to working with the souls.

He approached the bench and dug out a pair of surgical gloves, grasping one of the scalpels he had laid out on a small tray earlier.

Out of the corner of his eye socket, Gaster noticed the picture was still turned this way.

Drawing back with a small sigh, he laid the knife back down and approached it.

His boys were smiling, holding on to each other in a (for them) not at all rare display of physical affection.

They were so small. Fresh and young and innocent, not at all aware of the way the world worked yet.

Just like the child now sprawled out on his table.

Though not at all an expert on human biology, it occurred to Gaster they were pretty much the same age as Sans.

For some reason this made him extremely uncomfortable.

With a deliberate motion, he pushed the frame downward, concealing those hopeful faces from view.

Then, he breathed in deep and went back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment to let me know what you think!


	5. Slip Ups

Sans was roughly awakened by somebody jumping on top of him while he was laying in bed.

Good thing that certain someone was a small skeleton, or he might have gotten squeezed.

As it was, Papyrus didn't really weigh much, straddling Sans' chest and bouncing up and down on top of him.

"Sans! Sans! You know what day it is, right?!" The younger sibling practically yelled, excitement tinging his voice.

Sans had a hard time making his brain work properly after being so unceremoniously pulled out of a comfortable state of slumber, but the tone of voice Pap was applying was unmistakable.

"Oh gee, Paps, I don't know." He joked, though he managed to keep his face straight to make it more convincing. "Isn't it too early to be Giftmas?"

Papyrus thumped his chest in frustration. "Of course it's not Giftmas, silly."

"International ketchup Day? First day of summer vacation? A sunday?"

Sans watched his baby brother's face become more and more stricken as he went on.

"You mean you really forgot?" Papyrus looked close to tears now and Sans immediately felt guilty.

He hugged his brother close and rolled over onto his side, so they were both lying on the bed, facing each other.

"I was just kidding, bucko." He quickly clarified, having to suppress his own giggles. "Happy 6th birthday, Paps."

Papyrus tried to be angry about the prank, but his excitement overthrew any other emotion he may have felt. He hugged his brother back instead, burrowing his skull in the crook of Sans' neck.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, upon which the older brother promptly began snoring again.

"Sans! You lazybones!" Papyrus shook him awake again. "Don't go to sleep on my birthday, we have to celebrate!"

Sans yawned but managed to sit up, Papyrus jumping off the bed to stand besides it instead. He took his older sibling's hand in his and started pulling on it in an effort to make Sans go faster.

"I'm up, I'm up..." Sans mumbled unconvincingly. Papyrus was still a head shorter than him, and in no way powerful enough to actually drag him anywhere, but he allowed himself to roll of the bed and flop face-down on the ground just for the heck of it.

Papyrus let go of him and skipped towards the door instead. "Alright then, brother. I'll just head downstairs and make breakfast spaghetti all by myself."

Sans' head shot up instantly, but his sibling was already half-way down the stairs. The young skeleton scrambled to catch up to him.

"Paps, no. Dad will kill me if we mess up the kitchen again!"

* * *

Spaghetti was still a bit ambitious for these two impromptu chefs, but with what their father taught them after their previous cooking attempt, (still referred to as 'the eggcident' by both Gaster and Sans, much to Papyrus' annoyance) they managed to whip up some pancakes.

Slathered liberally with syrup or ketchup, it made for a hearty breakfast.

Since there was no school today, Sans took Papyrus to Snowdin town for a fun day out.

They made snowmen and went sledding. Threw snowballs at each other until both were covered head to toe in melting snow.

And the whole time, Papyrus kept up a game of '20 questions' regarding what his present could be.

"Is it a new puzzle?"

"Nope. 13 left, bro."

"A new book of bedtime stories?"

"Nope, 12."

"Is it a scarf?"

"What? You already have a scarf." Sans tugged at the red fabric, using the opportunity to make sure it was wrapped tight enough. Wouldn't want the kid to get cold. "I bought it for your previous birthday, so getting you a new one wouldn't make much _sans_."

Papyrus hit him for the horrible pun, but carried on with his reasoning none the less.

"But I love it so much, having two wouldn't be a bad idea. For when one is in the laundry."

Sans laughed but couldn't argue with that logic. His bro did wear the blasted thing wherever they went, even in Hotland.

"I'll get you a new one if you ever outgrow this one." He said, but Papyrus made a horrified expression at the statement.

"NO, I want to keep wearing this one forever." He said stubbornly.

* * *

By using the promise of buying him a Cinnamon Bunny as dessert, Sans managed to convince his brother they could have lunch at a local establishment called Grilby's.

Papyrus wasn't very fond of the greasy food or the dark, stifling atmosphere, but since his brother had already made the sacrifice of getting out of bed and taking him out for the day (which counted as quite a feat, since Sans was so lazy), the child decided to give in.

Besides, the pub's owner was entirely made out of fire, so that was pretty cool.

After the meal, the two skeletons made their way back home, taking the long route by foot so they could visit the echo flowers in waterfall.

By the time they came home, it was well into the afternoon, and Papyrus was getting quite antsy about finally receiving his elusive gift.

He had wasted all his remaining questions on wild guesses without ever coming closer to the real surprise.

"Can I have it now, Sans? Can I? Can I?"

Sans pretended to consider his options for a bit, but ultimately he couldn't say no to that particular look his younger brother was throwing him.

"Oh, alright. Since you've asked so nicely."

He quickly went up to his room to get the gift, less than expertly wrapped. He had found these when exploring the garbage dump after skipping school last week.

He immediately knew Papyrus would get a kick out of them, and had to resist giving them to his bro right away. But seeing as Paps birthday was so near anyway, he would safe them for the special occasion.

When the young skeleton peeled away the paper and a look of pure wonder crossed his face, Sans knew he had made the right decision.

"Wowie, Sans! They're so cool... uhm, what are they?" He stared at the toys in his hands.

They looked a bit like puppets, accept that they were hard instead of soft and also decidedly not monster-shaped.

"They're called action figures, bro. You can move them around like so..." Sans took one of the figurines and demonstrated how you moved the limbs and joints. "So you can make them do different things."

Papyrus' face lit up even more, if at all possible. "That's amazing!" He exulted. "Thank you, Sans!"

The little human-shaped toy (since Papyrus concluded that was what they must be, judging by his history lessons) was wearing a flashy armor in red and gold, his curled up fist fitted around a small plastic sword.

The one Sans was holding onto was likewise dressed up, but was brandishing an impressive tiny war-axe.

"Hey, Sans. We can make them fight each other." Papyrus laughed, moving the arm up and down, the none-sharp sword slicing at thin air.

Sans was about to answer when the door opened and their father walked in, much earlier than usual.

Papyrus immediately jumped up, running over and almost tackling the poor man in the doorway.

"Daddy! Dad! Look what Sans got me for my birthday." He proudly displayed his new possessions.

Gaster's face scrunched up in confusion. "Your birthday?" He shot a glance at Sans and swallowed.

"Ah yes, of course, your birthday." He quickly recovered, scooping up his youngest child to better appreciate what he was trying to show him. "That's why I'm home early today, naturally."

Sans frowned deeply at how smooth the lie came out, suppressing the tiniest upshot of rage at the revelation that their father had clearly forgotten about it for real.

But Papyrus hadn't even noticed, too busy gushing about what a great day they had had, and clearly thrilled by the thought that his father had took time off is busy work schedule just for him.

Ignorance is bliss.

"That all sounds like a lot of fun." Gaster was saying, a sincere smile slipping onto his face again. "But you know what would make it even better?"

"Spaghetti?" Papyrus asked hopefully, not missing a beat.

"Obviously." Gaster set the child down again, shrugging his lab coat off and hanging it on a peg. "Now who would want to help me make it?"

"Me! Me! Me!"

As he watched the two make their way to the kitchen, Sans debated whether he should confront his father about the awkward lapse of memory, but decided not to. As long as Paps was happy, that was all that mattered to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all comments will be cherished forever.


	6. We May Not Have It All Together...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The commenters calling Gaster an asshat in the previous chapter are going to have a field trip with this one.

Red boots splashed in the puddle excitingly, spraying up droplets of water and almost soaking Sans' entire pants leg.

"Be careful, Paps." He chided, gripping the child's hand more tightly. While he was hard-pressed to admit it, he felt nervous.

If their father knew they were down here, he would positively murder them.

They were not supposed to come to the garbage dump by themselves. It wasn't particularly dangerous, but all kinds of stuff from the surface made its way down the waterfalls into the underground, not all of it as innocent as it seems on first sight.

Gaster used to take them sometimes. It was where Papyrus had found his kite, and where Sans had found the action figures he had given his brother on his birthday.

Though, those he had found when he had come here alone. Of course, he had lied to his father, saying he had got them from a friend at school. The royal scientist had been entirely too absorbed in his work to question much further.

But Papyrus had asked where they came from too, and Sans couldn't lie to his brother. Never to him.

Papyrus had promised not to tell, and while many 6 year olds could not be reliable to keep their mouth shut, Pap might be one of the sole exceptions.

Because he would do anything for Sans.

Long story short, the younger brother really really _really_ wanted to come down here. And their father was of course nowhere to be found, again.

Gaster seemed even more invested in his work than usual lately. From what Sans could gather, it has something to do with that device he was making. The core?

He wasn't sure. He was pretty certain his father had caught onto his little trick of sneaking into the lab and reading his notes, because they were now stowed away better than ever before.

"Are we there yet?" a small voice besides him rang out. Sans frowned at that.

"Around 1 minute closer than when you previously asked me 1 minute ago, bro."

"Right..."

They walked for some time more, keeping quiet, only the sound of dripping water and footsteps breaking the silence.

"Are we there yet?"

* * *

"This is pretty disgusting." Sans mumbled to himself, pulling out a book from among the trash and holding it at a small distance from himself. Some type of liquid was dripping from the corner, and it definitely wasn't water, but besides that it looked pretty good.

He could always dry the pages, later.

The book was titled "No pun intended" and was much smaller than your regular sized books. Meaning he could hide it inside another book, a feature that Sans found slightly amusing.

He opened it in the middle, just to see if it was any good.

"Hey Paps!" He called. "What do you call a fake noodle?"  
Sans gazed up at his little brother, who had somehow managed to climb the trash mountain and was digging around the top. "An impasta!"

Papyrus let out a sigh that was way too life-weary for his age and chucked a discarded pillow at his sibling, missing entirely.

Sans went on undeterred. "Why do we need to carry umbrellas?"

"Because it's raining." Papyrus remarked, carefully picking his way back down the slope. With all the loosely heaped objects underneath it was a difficult descend, but he managed.

"Because they can't walk."

"Look what I found." Papyrus was holding out a slightly dirty but otherwise perfectly fine rubik's cube. Not that either of the skeleton children knew it was called that.

"A puzzle? Nice, bro." Sans smiled at him, before they started making their way to another garbage heap, Papyrus turning the cube as they went.

"How did the skeleton know it was going to rain?" Sans asked.

His brother almost jumped up in excitement. "I know this one! Because he felt it in his bones, right?"

Sans laughed, consulting the book again. "Nope, because he read the weather forecast, silly."

The two boys stared at each other for a moment.

"What's a weather forecast?" Papyrus frowned, utterly lost for a second.

Sans shrugged. "Don't know, some surface thing probably."

* * *

"But I don't want to leave it."

"And I don't want to leave you, but I will if you keep being stubborn."

"No you won't."

Sans sighed, wishing desperately that he weren't that damn transparent when it came to his little brother.

His little brother whom was currently clutching tightly to an obnoxious piece of furniture the two had unearthed somewhere at the back of the garbage disposal.

It was a bed, but shaped like some type of human vehicle. Sans recalled it was called a car, but he wasn't entirely sure. His bro was all over it, though.

"We can't take it with us now, Pap. We'll come back for it later."

The child looked up at him with a serious face. "You promise?"

Sans hesitated. He really didn't like making promises. It was like having a debt and he didn't like owning things to others. Especially since these kind of things could hurt people if you didn't follow through.

Sans didn't like making promises because he didn't like disappointing people.

"I promise." He said. "But let's go home now, before father gets angry or something."

"He won't even notice we're gone." Papyrus huffed, extracting himself from the brightly colored bed frame to clutch his brother's hand instead.

"That's what I'm hoping. Where's your puzzle? You want to take it with?"

"I solved it." Papyrus showed him the cube, all sides now sorted on color. "But I'll bring it. It's cool-looking."

"Didn't you find that thing 5 minutes ago?"

The small skeleton nodded, not seeing the issue.

Sans squeezed his hand. "Never mind. Let's go home."

* * *

The door creaked slightly as the two children sneaked in, closing it behind them. The house was still dark, so Sans was fairly certain they had gotten away with it.

"And where have you two been?"

Scratch that, they were in deep trouble.

The light flicked on. Gaster was in the hallway, looking extremely exasperated. This was bad.

"Uh oh... Looks like we're _boned_ , bro." Sans tried to joke, in a last-ditch effort to diffuse the situation.

Their father didn't even crack a smile.

"I have told you time and time again not to go down there alone, Sans." Obviously, he had already deduced where his sons were off to. "Now you are even dragging your brother along? I am truly disappointed. I thought you were better than that."

Sans choose not to answer, staring at the ground resolutely. He didn't want his father to see words like that actually hurt him.

Papyrus piped up besides him instead.

"We're sorry, Dad. I really wanted to go and asked Sans to take me. He didn't-"

Gaster strode forward angrily, closing the distance in an instant. Sans instinctively pulled his younger brother behind himself.

While Gaster had never _ever_ retaliated physically to any of his children's antics, he was an intimidating man. Sans found himself almost subconsciously fearing his father in those moments.

"He didn't think, is what you mean." His normally soft-spoken voice only needed to be raised slightly to make his anger known. "You-"

He stopped. There was something in his sons demeanor that stopped him, and the royal scientist sighed instead. "I... I was really worried, you see. When I came home and you two were not here. No note, no nothing. You can't just do that to people..."

"We come home to an empty house all the time." Sans bit out, making their father draw back a bit at the tone.

"That's not the same. I don't-"

"It is so! We are worried too but you never tell us anything either!" Sans didn't realize he had been thinking this until it came out of his mouth. He felt Papyrus grip the back of his hoodie, but didn't stop. "You are never home, we always have to fend for ourselves! But you don't care, do you!?"

He felt his brother gripping even harder, but the dam had been broken. It was too late to stop the words from pouring out now. He knew this were feelings that had been building up for a while now and it wasn't smart to let them out at once like this, but he couldn't care less.

He didn't even let Gaster get a word in sideways.

"You don't care about us, only about your stupid work and the stupid surface! I hope you never succeed! I hope you just disappear forever!" With those words Sans stormed past his father up to his room, leaving Papyrus standing there in utter bafflement about what just happened.

Gaster watched his eldest son go, shaking his head slightly. There was a distinct feeling of guilt in his stomach, but he pushed it away angrily.

"I don't even know why I made you two, sometimes." He said out loud, then went to bury himself in his work. Maybe it would make him feel better.

And if not, at least it would progress his work on the core. Almost there...

Papyrus was left standing in the hallway, trying to remember how to move.

* * *

The door opened and timid footsteps made their way to just besides his bed. Sans turned his head and watched his little brother sit down on the floor, resting his arms and head on the mattress.

They sat there in absolute silence for a while.

"Do you think he loves us?" Papyrus suddenly asked, voice uncharacteristically quiet and unsure. It pulled on Sans' heartstrings in all the wrong ways.

"Of course he does." Came the automatic response. He laid his hand on the small skull and stroked softly, feeling the slight heat on the bones, generated by healthy magic.

"Are you sure? Do you promise?"

Sans opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He didn't say anything.


	7. ... But Together We Have It All.

That evening was one of the quietest ones their family had ever experienced.

Gaster had gone down to try and get lost in the work, but in the end it was a wasted effort.

The whole reason he had been home so early was because another part of his project was completed, making him actually ahead of schedule for a change.

He had little time to spare for his children these days, as the deadline came closer and closer and there was still so much to be done.

When he did return home to not find his children anywhere, he had been both incredibly worried as well as exasperated.

In truth, it hadn't been _that_ long before he deduced where they were and that they would probably return soon, but it still put him on edge.

A taste of his own medicine, as Sans had pointed out to him during their... fight.

He went upstairs and prepared some food, before calling his sons down for dinner.

It was... tense, to say the least. Both Gaster and Sans just quietly concentrated on their food without making a sound, neither really wanting to get into another argument.

Papyrus waggled around on his chair awkwardly, not knowing how to resolve the strained atmosphere, and being unusually quiet also.

The poor child looked as if he was about to burst into tears any second, and Gaster did feel bad at this, but Sans' body language clearly communicated that he did not want to talk about it, so the scientist refrained from starting conversation either.

After they were done, Sans disappeared back to his bedroom, while Papyrus mulled around looking indecisive for some time, before following him up.

Gaster could only guess what the two were doing up there, but he believed it was called... brooding?

Funny, he thought that only came into play after they hit puberty.

Eventually, he could post-pone it no more. He was obviously the adult in this situation, and he would have to set things right again, no matter if he still thought he had been right in his scoldings or not.

Which he did. He just shouldn't have been that harsh, maybe... possibly...

Gaster climbed the stairs wearily, building resolve for the conversation to come, and making a detour via Papyrus' room, which was indeed empty.

Coming to a stop before his elder son's door, he debated just strolling right in, like he normally would.

However, it seemed the current status-quo called for a more... mindful approach.

Taking a slight breath, Gaster softly knocked on the door before him.

No answer. He tried again.

"Boys? Could you please open the door?" He called, trying to sound as guilty as he felt.

But nobody came.

Eventually he decided to just open the door and go in. He wanted to apologize and make up, he really did, but the royal scientist had never been a very patient monster.

The room was slightly darker than usual, but he could see Sans lying on his bed, burrowing under the sheets like some petulant child. Gaster wondered if he was asleep, since Sans really did have the remarkable ability to sleep whenever and where-ever he wanted, but the stillness of the Sans-shaped lump betrayed he was actually awake.

Papyrus had dragged his brother's desk chair, one with wheels at the bottom, to the middle of the room and was spinning himself round and round, feet barely long enough to reach the floor.

He smiled at his father, but still looked slightly anxious.

Gaster could conclude Sans had probably told his younger brother to not open the door when he knocked.

The boy sprang up when he approached, seemingly still caught between dual emotions.

"Say, Papyrus." Gaster began, holding out the item he had retrieved from the other bedchamber.

"It's getting kind of late, so how about a bed time story?"

Papyrus beamed for a fraction of a second, before stiffening and glancing at his brother's bed. The lump had shifted slightly when Gaster had begun speaking, but was now back to its motionless state.

"Ah.. I.. I don't know if-" His son began awkwardly, head tilting downward slightly.

Gaster quickly interrupted him. "It's a very special story, one you have never heard before. I think you will like it..." With his other hand he gestured at Sans, giving Papyrus a quick wink. "And Sans will like it too, I bet."

Papyrus brightened as he caught on to his father's intentions, quickly running over to the bed and climbing on top of it... and on top of his brother in the process.

Sans huffed and squirmed a bit, but ultimately allowed his brother to half-remove the blankets and slide down besides him, even if the bed wasn't meant for two people.

The older skelebro pointedly lay on his side, facing away from where their father was now dragging the abandoned desk chair to sit besides the bed.

Gaster opened the book to a random page, entirely for show. He wasn't planning to actually read from it at all, but he pretended to be glancing at the words as he spoke anyway.

"This is the story of two brothers." He began softly. "Who loved each other very much. They also had a father."

Gaster looked up to survey his audience's reaction. Papyrus was smiling again, wholly sincere this time. Sans was still sulking, but Gaster could tell he was listening by the way he tensed his body.

"However, there was a big problem. Their father... was a bit of a dork."

Papyrus giggled out loud, and Sans immediately rolled around to face his father, the look on his face now both annoyed and amused at the same time.

"It doesn't say that!" The boy huffed, though the corner of his smile twitched upward slightly.

"Of course it does." Gaster said, poker-face firmly in place. "Their father was a bit of a dork, who was really good at his job as royal uh..." He stumbled for an analogy.

"Guard!" Papyrus called out immediately, not laying down anymore, but now half sitting draped over his brother.

Gaster rolled with it.

"A royal guard. He was excellent at his job, in fact. He was always out catching humans and protecting the king. So much so, that he was never home and his children got very sad."

Sans had crossed his arms but was still looking at him.

"He thought his job was the most important thing in the world, since he was helping the underground be a better place and keeping everybody safe, but..." He trailed off.

Sans and Papyrus waited in silence for the story to be resumed, but when it didn't immediately happen, Sans prompted their father to continue.

"But what?"

"But I forgot there was a much more important job to be done, and I've not been doing it properly. The job of being your father."

The smile had been wiped of Papyrus' face completely by now, and even Sans looked slightly hesitant to say anything.

Gaster heaved a great sigh, quite an accomplishment for a monster that didn't have any lungs.

"And I am sorry. I was angry at you two for going off on your own, while it is actually my absence that drives you to this action in the first place. I am sorry for putting my work before you two, and for not showing you more often how important you are to me."

His two children regarded him silently for a moment, both unmoving. Papyrus looked like he had only understood about half of what his father had said, but Sans looked sincerely moved.

Matter of fact, Gaster could almost swear he could hear the child's soul flutter in his ribcage all the way from here.

"I'm sorry too." Sans mumbled after a second, though his voice was breaking slightly. "I'm sorry for yelling at you and for not leaving a note and for saying you don't care and..."

The next moment the young skeleton had extracted himself from his blankets and was practically jumping in Gaster's lap, small phalanges clutching his turtleneck tightly.

"And I'm sorry for saying you should disappear, because I don't want you to and-"

Gaster hugged his son close, cutting off the child's jumbled apology.

"It's alright, Sans. I know you didn't mean it. We all say things we don't mean when we're angry."  
At those words he shot a meaningful glance over the top of Sans' skull at his other son still on the bed.

Papyrus gulped slightly. What his father had said in the hallway had been on his mind continually, but he had not told Sans. Now, he wasn't so sure if he should, even if something about the statement still made him feel really tight in the chest.

"And I won't disappear." He said eventually, addressing the boy in his lap again. "Why would you even think that?"

Sans didn't look up at him when he answered. "I d-don't know." He muttered.

He couldn't explain to his father the tense feeling in his soul when he first spoke those words. An intense feeling of foreboding he couldn't quite shake.

Like some horrible sense of irony. Like hearing a joke but lacking the punchline.

Like he didn't want to find out what would happen if his father really didn't come back one day.

Gaster set his son down on the bed again, slightly adjusting his clothing, which did have some wet patches on them now, but he decided not to mention those.

Sans was already rubbing at his eye sockets with his fists, trying his best to look composed.

"How does the story end?" Papyrus suddenly piped up, tilting his skull to the side curiously. Gaster couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"The father learns from his mistakes, tries to better to balance his work and his children, and they all live happily ever after, of course."

His youngest son looks very disappointed at the revolution. "uhmmm, that was a pretty bad story, dad." He said.

"Well, I'm a scientist, not a writer." Gaster picked up the book from its place on the floor, having fallen when Sans unceremoniously shoved it aside to take its place.

This time, he did open the book to the first page. "How about another, then? This one is written by a professional."

Papyrus nodded eagerly, while Sans settled back besides him, pulling the blanket up to cover the both of them sufficiently.

"This is the story of Fluffy Bunny, the rabbit."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments I've been receiving. I cherish them with my whole heart!


	8. Cheaters Never Win

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for this chapter was suggested by jake9039.

Gaster looks over the top of his papers quizzically as his youngest son practically storms into the kitchen, looking for all intent as if he's on the most important quest of his lifetime.

The skeleton child runs around the table twice before sinking to his knees and looking under it, only to heave a heavy sigh. Papyrus then starts tearing the cupboards open one by one, forgetting to close them behind himself in his excitement.

"Euhm..." The royal scientist hesitates, watching in growing confusion at his son searching the tiny empty space beneath their sink. "What are you doing, Paps."

"Looking for Sans." The child simply says, now even pulling a chair over to reach the higher shelves.

"Why would Sans be in our kitchen sideboards?"

It's almost amazing how his son manages to roll his eyes at him, despite the lack of actual eyeballs. Probably a side effect of spending so much time around Sans.

"We're playing hide and seek." With all the closets now opened, it is quite clear Sans is not hiding inside any furniture, so Papyrus starts the meticulous job of closing them again.

For such a tender age, the young monster has a surprising dislike of disarray, his room always orderly and clean, in sharp contrast to that of his elder sibling.

"I am aware of what hide and seek is, Papyrus. I was actually talking about Sans' mass." Gaster says, while his son is busy removing any trace of him ever having been there in the first place.

When Papyrus just sends him a confused look, Gaster clarifies. "His size. I think Sans is too big to fit inside those cupboards."

Papyrus looks at the would be hiding-spots, then shrugs. He skips over to his father and lays his hands on Gatser's arms with a smile.

"Actually, Sans is pretty small. He keeps saying he'll get a growth spurt any second now, but..."

The child looks around conspiratorially, as if checking if the coast is clear before making a controversial statement.

"But I think I'm gonna outgrow him soon."

Papyrus looks way too giddy at the thought, so Gaster can't help smiling himself.

"I'm sure you will." He says, patting Papyrus on the skull before the small skeleton runs of to ransack some other part of their house.

Funny thing is, Gaster actually _is_ sure. He has been keeping close tabs on his boys their health ever since they were created, and if his calculations are correct, (and when are they ever not) Sans will be doomed to stay horribly impeded in height for the rest of his life.

This was just one of the few unfortunate side-effects, another notable example being an extraordinarily low HP, of not being naturally 'born'.

Of course, seeing the ways in which his eldest started to manifest his magic, now that he has begun to reach puberty, Gaster could only see it as a small sacrifice in the name of science.

The thought has barely passed through his mind or he feels the world shift minutely, a shiver running down his spine, as reality folds in on itself for the barest of instants.

The chair across form Gaster almost topples over with the sheer force of suddenly having a person in it where there was none before, but it manages to stay upright.

Sans looks quite pleased with himself at the feat.

"Nailed it!" He grins at his father's slightly disapproving look.

"Speak of the devil..." The exclamation comes out unbidden, and Sans looks up in surprise.

"What's that?" He asks curiously, but his father shakes his head at him.

"It's a human thing." He says. "You know what I told you about doing... that." He gesture vaguely at his son.

Sans leans forward, elbows resting on the table and chin in hands. "Come on, Dings. I'm just practicing."

"Don't call me that." Gaster frowns for real this time. He had forgotten puberty has another side effect, besides the increased magical ability in young monsters. His son is becoming a total smart-ass.

"Sorry, Dad." Sans quickly says. "But you have to admit. Teleportation is such a useful power, it is bound to _get you somewhere._ "

The royal scientist has to suppress a snort of laughter at this which would be quite undignified indeed. He wants to answer, but the sound of approaching footsteps not so subtly running down the hall makes Sans look up.

"Be right back." And the next instant the chair is empty again, the magic residue left behind dispersing almost immediately.

Sans is a fast learner.

Barely a second later Papyrus barrels in again, looking incredibly peeved. He bends down to look under the table again, but it's clearly an half-hearted attempt.

"What's wrong, Paps?" Gaster asks, knowing the answer already.

"I...I don't know." Papyrus mumbles, looking decidedly confused. He doesn't even bother checking the cupboards this time. "But I think Sans is cheating."

"How so?"

Papyrus crosses his arms and looks around again, but besides the two of them, the kitchen is definitely empty. "I don't know how yet, but... It's the only explanation."

The child stands around looking forlorn for another second, before leaving the room again.

When Gaster looks up, Sans has returned, now resting his feet on the table casually.

"You _are_ cheating." He observes, and his son has the decency to look at least slightly offended at the accusation.

"Of course not, I would never do something like that. However, The rules only say I'm not allowed to move. I don't need to move when using my magic."

Gaster looks decidedly unimpressed at his son's revelation. "You are taking advantage of a technicality."

Sans shrugs slightly. "Pretty much. I'd think you'd approve of that." The knowing smirk that accompanies that statement tells Gaster his son has been snooping around his lab again.

He should probably do something about that, but ever since deciding he wanted to be more of an active presence in his children's lives, Sans has seemed so much more care-free than he used to.

It hadn't really dawned on the royal scientist, the toll it took on Sans to pretty much be forced into a caretaker role his entire childhood. Gaster is reluctant to turn back now.

Which is exactly why he is doing his paperwork at the kitchen table, instead of the relative peace of one of his labs.

"Also, the stakes are simply too high." Sans suddenly says, pulling his father from his reverie. "If Paps finds me within an hour, I need to do the dishes for an entire week."

"Do you now?" Gaster smiles mildly, suddenly stricken by an idea.

With an easy flick of the scientist's wrists, Sans feels his soul pull down as if a heavy weight rests on top of it. He jumps at the sensation, but finds his movements almost completely impeded by the unfamiliar magic.

"You are blue now."

His son looks completely aghast at the sudden turn of events, eye sockets widening slightly.

"What? That's totally cheating!"

Gaster almost starts laughing out loud at how scandalous Sans sounds. "Actually, I'm not participating in your game, so I should be exempt from the rules."

Sans is less composed, starting to chuckle at his own predicament. "Now you are the one taking advantage of technicalities, huh?"

"Sans, you lazybones, that's not even a proper hiding spot." Papyrus yells out, entering the kitchen yet again, but this time successful in his plight. He attaches himself to his brother's arm immediately, as if he might disperse into thin air any second.

Which is a lot closer to the truth than Papyrus himself realizes.

"You are such a meanie!" The child cries, though he does not look particularly angry, way too caught up in having won their little game. "Even with you cheating, I still found you in time."

"You sure did, bro." Sans almost smothers his younger sibling in a crushing hug, and Gaster is amused to note Papyrus's earlier observation is true. Despite the age difference, his sons are about the same height now.

"But... Oh no, Paps." Sans suddenly covers his mouth with his hands, a very bad faked shocked expression on his face. "If I'll be doing the dishes all week, I won't have any time to clean my room, like you asked."

Gaster doesn't question the backwards logic concerned, both in Sans' apparent lack of time, as well as the fact that it's the younger child telling the elder what to do here.

But Papyrus' face suddenly breaks into an enormous grin, eye lights brightening up instantly.

"Do not fret, brother. The great Papyrus has already done that for you."

The fake expression makes way for a sincere one. "You what?"

"I actually cleaned your room while I was looking for you in there."

Sans laughs out loud again and pulls his brother in for another hug. "You're a silly noodle, Paps. you know that, right?"

Gaster frowns at the papers in front of him. All these antics have seriously derailed him from his work, and he is reminded why he prefers doing work inside his basement, surrounded by peace and quiet, so he can actually concentrate and get something done.

Now he'll be running behind schedule again.

But when he looks back up and sees his sons, he knows. If it means being able to witness moments like these more often, a few sleepless nights working overtime are a small sacrifice to make.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, every and all comments are cherished and appreciated. They are what keeps me writing.


	9. We are our mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, you guys. As always, your continued comments and support are the most valued thing in the world. You make me want to cry from happiness.
> 
> (Also, since last chapter was purely fluff, this one has a royal scoop of angst. because I'm a terrible person who just can't let this skelefamily be happy.)

"Do you need anything? Water? Spaghetti? More blankets?"

"Relax, Paps. I'm fine." Sans assures his little brother for the 12th time that afternoon. Papyrus still doesn't seem entirely convinced.

Gaster chooses that moment to enter the room, carrying a glass of water and some medicine.

"Here. This will make you feel better." He says quietly, weary to not aggravate Sans' already pounding headache.

The young skeleton takes the pills gratefully, swallowing them down immediately.

The nice thing about skeleton anatomy is the lack of digestion system. There is almost instant relief upon taking the medicine, seeing as his body doesn't need to go through the bothersome processes some more biologically-based monster species do.

"Are you better now?" Papyrus asks in an attempt whisper. His voice is pretty loud by nature, but Sans appreciates the effort.

"A bit." He admits. "I'm still pretty knackered though."

Papyrus brightens up, stance relaxing at the confirmation. "You're always tired..." He admonishes. "But I guess it's ok if you're sick."

The younger skeleton looks over his brother carefully, half-propped up in his bed, before shaking his head decisively. "You need more blankets."

Sans can barely open his mouth to protest before his brother has already left the room. He sinks back against the pillows with a sigh of resignation.

"Who's the oldest one here, huh?" He asks to no one in particular.

His father laughs softly, taking back the still half-full glass and putting it on the nightstand for later.  
"There's nothing wrong with taking care of each other." He says.

Sans mumbles something in response, barely articulate, before falling asleep instantly.

Some moments later Papyrus reenters, arms full of blankets.

Gaster is surprised his youngest son knew where to find those. The royal scientist himself didn't even know they had spare blankets.

"You know he's not dying, right?"

Admittedly it's a pretty crude thing to say, but Gaster has never been good at self-censorship. Never sees the need to, either.

"O-Of course I do." Papyrus quickly says, starting to smother his brother in layers of soft fabric. Luckily skeletons don't actually need to breath.

"It is not unusual for young monsters to get sick, especially not as they get to an age where their magic starts to manifest. It... clogs up their system, so to speak." Gaster continues.

"I know that. It's just..." Papyrus trails of uncertainly, fidgeting with the corner of the covers.

Gaster goes to stand beside his son, one hand laid comfortingly on the small shoulder. "You are worried because of Sans' fragile HP?" He deduces, to which Papyrus nods stiffly.

"Well, no need. HP can only be affected by an outside force, like an attack. It has nothing to do with being ill." He gives the bony shoulder a small squeeze. "Besides, I'm sure he'll be fine as long as he has you to look out for him."

Papyrus relaxes again, trademark grin firmly in place. "Of course! The great Papyrus is excellent at taking care of others."

"So it seems. You are a real mother hen."

An orange blush spreads across his son's face at these words. "Am not." He mutters, while tucking in the corners of the blanket he just spread across Sans' sleeping form.

Gaster decides not to comment.

"We should probably let your brother rest. Have you done your homework yet, Papyrus?" He asks instead.

The child hesitates, but knows lying would be useless. "No, but... Sans usually helps me. I'm not so good at science." He admits meekly.

"How about I help you then?" Gaster hears himself asks. It's an impulse response, and not a very wise one. He still has a ton of work to get to.

But Papyrus jumps up and grabs his hand in a second, allowing him no chance to back out.

Seeing the smile on his son's face, Gaster is pretty sure he doesn't have the heart for it either.

* * *

"I don't get this." Papyrus groans, close to pouting.

"Come on." Gaster tries to encourage. "It's really not that hard."

His youngest child glares at him, though there is no real heat behind it. "Of course you would say that, dad. You're the freakin royal scientist."

"Language." Gaster scolds lightly.

Papyrus ignores him. "Why do we need to know this stuff anyway. Thermodynamics?" He reads, scrunching up his eyes at the page.

"Thermodynamics are extremely important, Papyrus." His father explains patiently. "It's what powers everything here in the underground. It's what powers the core."

Papyrus just stares at him blankly.

"The core. You know, that very important thing I've been working on my whole life." Gaster deadpans.

"I know what the core is." the small skeleton quickly clarifies. "But why should I know this stuff." He pokes the paper with a finger. "I bet even you don't know half of it."

"What?! Now you're just being daft, son. See here..." He grabs the pen and pulls the paper towards himself.

In barely a minute Gaster solves the entire page. It takes him another 30 seconds to realize what just happened.

"NYEH-NYEH-NYEH!" Papyrus jumps up on his chair triumphantly. "Yet again, the evil powers of school have been cunningly outwitted by the great Papyrus, future captain of the royal guard."

Gaster groans. How could he have fallen for such a stupid trick.

Must be all those late nights. Well, partially those.

His stubborn pride is definitely going to be the death of him.

* * *

When Sans wakes up, it takes him a moment to realize he is not drowning in the worlds most dry and soft sea.

Rather, he has been buried under some sort of blanket and cushion avalanche.

He blinks and wonders what's happening.

He hears distant laughing from another room in the house.

Ah, right, Papyrus.

Maybe he should get out of bed and go check on him.

Sans promptly turns over and falls asleep again.

* * *

"I don't get this..." Gaster look at the scrabble board in pure puzzlement.

How can he be losing to a six year old?

"Syzygy." Papyrus says, laying down the letters as he goes. "That's another 93 points."

His father just stares blankly. "...What?"

"Syzygy. It's when three celestial bodies-"

"I know what it is." Gaster groans. He's just happy none of his colleagues are here to see this. "Did you read that in Sans' astronomy books?"

"Sans reads them to me sometimes." Papyrus says idly, rearranging the letters in front of him with a look of pure concentration on his face.

Gaster can't help but think it's kind of adorable.

"Creation." He says, laying down the word and noting down his points. He pulls out some new letters and waits for Papyrus to take another turn, but nothing happens.

When he looks over, the small skeleton seems to be looking down at his hands rather than the board.

The seconds tick by, and the royal scientist is about to say something else when Papyrus opens his mouth again.

"Dad, Why did you create us?"

Gaster feels his soul stutter in his ribcage and for a moment it's like the entire world stops.

Apparently Papyrus takes his shock for confusion, because he goes on to explain his question further.

"The other day... you mentioned something about not knowing why you made us, so... Why did you?"

Gaster still doesn't say anything. He can't tell the truth. Maybe he'll never be able to. But he's not good at lying either.

Secretly he has hoped it would take longer for this question to ever come up, and when it came he had expected it to come from Sans.

But Papyrus had always been surprisingly observant.

"A-At school. They told us stuff about two monster making a child because they love each other very much, and other such mushy things, but..." The child says.

When he raises his head, there is only a blank expression on it. Somehow, this is more terrifying than any raw emotion Gaster would have expected to see there.

"You didn't make us out of love, did you?"

It takes a monumental effort for the adult skeleton to keep looking his son in the eyes, while keeping his voice calm.

"No. I didn't."

Papyrus lowers his head again. His hands are trembling slightly as he reaches for the plastic letters.

"I didn't make you two out of love. But that doesn't mean I don't love you. While it was not the reason you were conceived, it is your most valuable purpose. Do you understand, Papyrus?"

"I understand." And just as Gaster is not good at lying himself, he is excellent at knowing when he is being lied to. "Fallacy. 27 points."

* * *

When Sans wakes up again, he's still buried alive, but he's not alone anymore.

The towering mountain has shifted to accommodate another person, and Papyrus is now curled up besides him.

"Hey, bro." He mumbles, voice slightly rough from disuse.

He feels the small arms tighten their grip around him in acknowledgement.

"Something wrong?" Sans asks softly. He feels Papyrus shake his head against his chest bone.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Another shake.

Sans exhales wearily.

"Hey, Pap. Knock knock."

"... Who's there?"

"Olive."

"Olive who?"

"Olive you."

Papyrus groans, burrowing his face into the ample amount of pillows. "That's really terrible, Sans."

"I'm sorry, Paps. Would you say you're... getting _sick_ of it?"

"Alright, I'm leaving."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love, Comments are live.


	10. Cold and Warmth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a direct continuation of the previous chapter.
> 
> Enjoy your daily dose of fluff/angst... (Flangst?) and a small skeleton child having an existential crisis.

Papyrus abandons Sans beneath the pillow avalanche and returns to the living room instead.

His father is in the kitchen, and by the sounds of it the young skeleton can guess he's busy making spaghetti.

Papyrus isn't sure if it's meant as a peace offering or if it's literally the only dish the royal scientist can prepare.

For a moment the child wants to go and help, but his attention is diverted to the scrabble board still sitting on the table.

He had won, narrowly. His father had been impressed, but really the game is nothing more than a vocabulary test.

Just like crossword puzzles. No wonder those things bore him to death.

Ever diligent is his duties as the tidy one in their household (both Gaster and Sans being terribly messy), Papyrus starts gathering the letter pieces to put them away.

His hands stop short as he looks at the words.

Creation.

Right, Like his brother and him.

Fallacy... A mistake.

Like his brother and him?

It is then that Papyrus notices there's another word.  
It wasn't there before, so his father must have laid it down after their game was already over and he left to check on Sans.

Serendipity?

The small skeleton doesn't know what that means, but has no time to ponder this as he hears his father call for him from the other room.

He hastily puts away the remaining pieces.

* * *

During dinner, Papyrus chats idly about everything and anything, to try and fill the silence.

Gaster pretends to be listening, but his mind is clearly elsewhere.

The food itself is slightly burnt, obviously his father wasn't paying much attention while making it either.

Something is preoccupying his thoughts, and Papyrus isn't sure if he should inquire or not.

He decides he will ask what's bothering the other after he has done the dishes. That way, he still has some time to think about how to make it sound like he's not over-thinking things again.

But when he gets up to put the plates away, his father is suddenly right there, long arms wrapped around his son's body.

Papyrus leans into the embrace slightly, face buried into his father's always present lab coat.

There is a peculiar feeling of both warmth and cold at the same time persisting inside him.

Because he likes this, but he also knows physical affection does not come naturally to the royal scientist, and he has the distinct notion that something is wrong.

"I'm sorry." Gaster says, and it's so quiet Papyrus almost didn't hear it.

He knows his father is not apologizing for the burnt sauce, or even for his crude demeanor. He is apologizing for something else entirely that Papyrus doesn't even understand yet.

"I'm sorry."

And when Papyrus looks up it's like he's seeing this man for the first time all over again.

Gaster is tall, imposing. Papyrus has always hoped he might be like that one day.

"Soon." Gaster says, voice slightly louder and with an almost definitive tone to it. Like he's trying to convince himself with what he is saying. "I think it's time you two know. The machine is almost done, anyway. You deserve to know, just... Soon, ok?"

"Ok..." Papyrus answers, though he hasn't the slightest idea what he's agreeing to.

His father just keeps holding him, and he hugs back.

Heart-warming, yet chilled to the bone.

* * *

When bedtime rolls around, Papyrus brings the book to Sans' room for story time.

While his older brother is feeling marginally better, a slight feeling of nausea has set in, and Papyrus doesn't want Sans to get sick all over the floor. (or worse, his action figures!)

So Sans' room it is.

Somewhere along the way it is silently agreed Papyrus will just sleep in his brother's room tonight, because neither child feels like being alone, though for totally unrelated reasons.

And it's not like Sans is contagious anyway. That's the upside of skeleton physiology.

Afterwards, They lie in the dark room wrapped in silence and a ridiculous amount of blankets.

"Sans?" Papyrus asks softly, voice barely above a whisper now. "Do you think something is wrong with dad?"

"Why would you say that?" His brother asks.

"I... I don't know. I'm scared."

Sans grabs his hand under the cover. "Why are you scared?"

"I don't know."

There's a huff of laughter in response. "If you don't know, then why even think about it?"

Papyrus shrugs, though it doesn't work quite as well while lying down. He ends up poking Sans in the eye socket with one of his shoulders instead.

"I just have a really bad feeling."

Sans doesn't respond, but Papyrus can feel his entire body tense. After a silence that stretches on too long for comfort, Sans answers with trembling voice.

"That's just silly, Paps. I'm sure it's nothing. We'll be fine."

But Papyrus can hear the meaning behind those words.

_I've been feeling it too._

* * *

Somewhere in the middle of the night, He wakes up because Sans shifted and nearly elbowed him in the face.

Papyrus gives a half-kick in retort, but Sans is a deep sleeper and doesn't wake up.

The skeleton child grumbles to himself slightly, sitting up in the bed and rubbing his nasal bone. He was just having such a nice dream too, though he couldn't remember it now.

He feels overly warm, smothered beneath the ample covers, so he climbs out of bed instead.

Maybe he should just get back to his own room to go back to sleep. Sans won't mind.

But as he's crossing the landing, a thought strikes him.

Papyrus walks past his room, instead climbing down the stairs slowly, mindful of making any obtrusive noises.

The door to his fathers bedroom is wide open, meaning the royal scientist is still at work in his lab. Gaster always closes the door when he's sleeping.

Papyrus can't remember the last time he has seen that door closed.

Everything is dark, and he has to be extra careful of not bumping into anything, but after so many games of monsters & humans, Papyrus knows the layout of their living room like the back of his hand.

Navigating deftly on bare feet, he reaches the book case next to the sofa.

Standing on his tip toes, he can just about reach his father's precious copy of a human dictionary.

Sans and him are normally not supposed to touch it without permission, but in this case Papyrus thinks it prudent to make an exception.

He flips the pages carefully, trying not to damage the already shabby book.

S.

Serenata. Serendipitous.

Serendipity: A fortunate accident. A happy chance.

Papyrus frowns his brow. How can accidents ever be a good thing?

He notices a small piece of paper stuck between the pages, which he almost didn't notice.

When he pulls it out, the small skeleton is disappointed to discover it's only intelligible scribbling. Weird symbols he only vaguely recognize and certainly can't translate.

~~[I love you]~~

But something about the text makes him instinctively happy, even if Papyrus has no idea what it means.

The sudden sound of glass breaking downstairs makes him freeze. He quickly puts the book back where it belongs, keeping the piece of paper clutched in a fist.

He hears his father scuffling around in his lab, so the child swiftly makes his way back to his room, way less careful of making noise this time.

He puts the paper inside the pages of his own favorite book: 'Fluffy Bunny's great adventure'.

Then he stares at the bed for a while, noticing how empty it looks compared to the warm feeling in his soul.

He goes back to Sans' bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there were actual Wingdings in my draft, but apparently the site won't allow them :/
> 
> That's pretty bum. Guess I'll just put them between brackets...


	11. Don't Forget

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, so something weird happened that made the previous chapter copy 3 times. I love how some people assumed it was intentional, but sadly it had nothing to do with Gaster messing with timelines, and more with me messing with HTML lines, trying to force this site to allow WingDings...

"What are you drawing,daddy?"

Gaster startles at the sudden interruption of his concentration. He narrowly avoids getting a nasty ink swipe all over his design.

Papyrus leans even further into him, trying to see what his father is doing.

"When did you come home from school?" The royal scientist turns around to see the clock on their wall, discovering it is already close to evening. How did that happen?

He swore it was just 5 minutes ago that his children left and he decided to work upstairs. The lab has really abhorrent lighting.

"Just now." Papyrus says casually, shoulder brushing up against Gaster's. "What are you drawing?"

"I'm not drawing anything, Papyrus. I'm making blueprints." He shows his son what he has been working on, knowing the 6 year old won't understand what he's looking at anyway.

"Oh, ok." Papyrus nods his head in understanding, then pauses and shakes it instead. "I don't know what that means."

"It means I'm making schematics for some machines I've been working on."

"You do know schematic is just a fancy way of saying drawing, right?" Sans adds, as he enters the room.

Gaster frowns at him in disapproval, but doesn't say anything. He knows his eldest only makes those kind of comments to rile him up.

He tries to continue working instead, despite the fact that his concentration is now utterly broken, and the fact that Papyrus is still trying to see what he is doing over his shoulder.

"Hey, Paps, you want to draw something as well?" He asks, hoping it will distract the child.

He's right. Papyrus sits back, resting on his knees to properly reach the table. "Of course. But..." The young skeleton looks thoughtful for a second. "I don't think I can draw something like that."

The royal scientist laughs and starts digging through his mess for a spare piece of blank paper.

"I'm making these for work. You can draw whatever you want."

"Like what?" Papyrus grabs a nearby pencil as he asks this.

"Like... The things you love most in the entire world." Gaster watches as an idea instantly forms in his son's mind and he sets to work, scribbling excitingly.

"Are you going to draw something too, Sans?" Papyrus calls to his brother, who had moved over to the fridge during the conversations and is now busy emptying the ketchup bottle.

"Hmm, what? Oh, yeah, sure bro." He puts the condiment back where it belongs and flicks the door shut.

With his magic, as Gaster can't help but notice. What a show-off.

"What are we doing?" Sans asks casually as he plops down on a chair across from his brother.

"Drawing things we love." Papyrus says happily, holding his drawing out in front of him with a critical glare. "Needs some color."

He glides of the chair to go look if they have any type of colored pencils in the house, quickly returning with the few he could find.

He will have to make do.

The family sits quietly for some time, the only thing breaking the silence the sound of pencil on paper, and Gaster is able to lose himself in the work again.

As he is finishing the last few lines, adding text in his usual ineligible handwriting, Papyrus starts up.

"The great Papyrus has finished his masterpiece!" He announces proudly, swinging the paper around in a flurry.

The loud noise wakes Sans, who fell asleep on top of his page 5 minutes into their family drawing session.

"Sans, you lazybones!" Papyrus chides him when he notices, even pouting as he does so. "You didn't even draw anything."

"Of course I did." Sans looks mildly aghast at the accusation, even if the huge grin gives away his true feelings. "Look."

He slides the page over the table, glaringly empty besides a small circle in the middle.

"I drew a snowball."

There is a sound coming out of Papyrus that Gaster doesn't know what to make of, something between irritation and humor, but he thinks it greatly amusing none the less.

He also can't help but notice Sans bothered to sign his piece, his name written in simple red font on the bottom of the page.

"What did you make, Paps?" The small skeleton snaps out of his agitation and turns to his father instead at these words.

"I drew us." He proclaims with a huge face-splitting grin.

Sure enough, though it is a bit sketchy and the proportions are a little off, Gaster can easily recognize the figures his son portrayed.

Papyrus even managed to add some color: the smallest figure has a bright red scarf, while the barely taller one is wearing a blue hoodie.

And between them, Gaster recognizes himself, lab coat and all.

Seeing the picture fills him with an unexpected kind of warmth.

"Can I keep it?" His voice is soft and Papyrus tilts his head slightly at the tone, before breaking out grinning again.

"Of course, dad." He immediately answers, obviously overjoyed at the thought that the royal scientist would want to.

Careful to not crease the paper too badly, Gaster folds it in two and puts it in an inner pocket of his coat.

Somehow, though he doesn't know why, he feels like this is very important.


	12. I just saw a face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a bit longer than I intended to put this up, but it's also about twice as long as the usual chapter, so bear with me please...

The streets are lavishly decorated in colors of silver and purple, the air filled with an excited humming and the smells of an abundance of different foods.

Everywhere you look, there is something new or unexpected to see, the streets practically thrumming with life.

Which is exactly the reason why Gaster clamps his hands a bit tighter around those of his sons, one on each side. He has never much liked crowds.

Doesn't really like people in general. Besides King Asgore himself, who he admittedly has taken quite a fancy to, and the few colleagues that work with him at the lab, the royal scientist wouldn't call himself very sociable.

Though that may have more to do with his own problems communicating rather than other people. Why did he have to be such a difficult font?

He looks down as he feels Papyrus tug on his hand slightly, small phalanges squeezing so hard in excitement it almost hurts.

Even Sans, always so calm and complacent, is busy darting his head around in an attempt to absorb as much of the scene as possible.

The Underground isn't particularly... crowded. Humans outnumbered monster easily before the war, and now Gaster can only imagine how the surface must be like, crawling with lifeforms of all variety.

Even today, when a lot of monster-kind gathers around the streets of New Home for the festivities, it still doesn't seem like more than what a regular human metropolis must look like.

Not that he would know. He hasn't been on the surface. Not yet...

"What's that, Dad?" a small voice besides him asks.

Gaster looks ahead of them, where a small gathering has formed around an old, slightly-cracked statue. The grayish stone looks ancient and withered, the once so carefully crafted shapes worn down with age.

"Is that..." Sans trails off, voice uncertain for once.

"Prince Asriel." Gaster confirms, looking up at the figure. At the base of the statue, there lay heaps upon heaps of small, golden flowers. Monsters stand around, either adding to the growing pile of tributes, or just silently paying their respects to their lost heir.

Gaster is hit with an intense sense of hypocrisy. The chances are high none of the people gathered here now were even born when the prince was alive, and yet today the entire underground pretends to be wreaked with grief.

Every other day of the year, they go on their merry way, living their lives to the fullest and patiently waiting for the day they will reach the surface.

The royal scientist knows at least one person who is not that lucky...

"Where is the human?" Papyrus asks curiously, observing the marred stone with wide eyes. "The prince had a sibling, right?"

"They did..." Gaster answers after a beat. He doesn't answer the question though, and for once, Papyrus does not press the issue, already distracted by something else going on in the busy streets.

The smell of golden flowers is heavy in the air here, almost overpowering all else. He starts walking again, sparing one last look at the memorial and noting the small cracks beginning to form on the surface.

Somehow, he knows nobody will bother making a new one.

* * *

"I don't get why it's a party." Sans notes between licks of ice cream. " I mean, he died, right? That's not something to celebrate."

Gaster turns his head with a disapproving frown. So young and already such a cynic.

He sure hopes that is just another puberty thing, though he strongly fears it is not. It reminds him too much of himself to be a coincidence.

"It's not the passing that they're celebrating. It's the life that came before."

Sans doesn't look at him, eyes glued on his younger brother, who's busy trying to see how high the swing set will go.

Papyrus waves at them, quite a precarious activity while in motion. Sans waves back with a grin.

"I guess..." He hums. "Still, today is the day he died. Doesn't seem very fitting."

"Today is more than just the day prince Asriel died, Sans. It's the day that he sacrificed everything for his human sibling. It's the day that somebody passed through the barrier for the first time since its creation. It stands as a symbol for the relationship between humans and monsters."

"It's a symbol of hope." Sans isn't looking at his brother anymore, eyes fixed on some point in the distance, but seeing nothing.

"Hope." Gaster bends his head. "It's all we have, Sans."

"Right. Hope that someday we get to wage war and commit genocide on those that confined us down here. An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind."

He startles at the force behind those words, the conflicted quality to them. Sans has been thinking about this for longer than just today.

"That's n- It's more complex than that, and you know it." Gaster falters, knowing there is no clear-cut way to explain this.

He sighs instead, shaking his head warily. "How old are you, Sans?"

There is a small twitch at the corner of Sans' mouth as it pulls up in a sly grin.

"Oh gee, father. I don't know. You made us, why don't you tell me?"

It takes a monumental effort not to face-palm at his son's antics, but that would not be very professional of him. Instead, Gaster grins in a similar fashion.

"Humor me."

"I turned 13 a few weeks ago." Sans thinks back to the ketchup pancakes he and Paps had tried to make. That smell lingered for the longest time, and they weren't even edible.

Good times.

"Right. And what did I tell you about when you are 13." Gaster says slyly, knowing exactly the kind of effect his words will have on his eldest son.

And he's right.

It takes a few seconds for the statement to completely sink in, but when it does, the lights in Sans's eye-holes become instantly brighter, grin becoming more genuine instead of sarcastic.

"Seriously? Lab assistant?"

"Unofficial lab assistant. You're not getting a salary, if that's what you're after." Gaster can't stop smiling, even while he is trying to make his voice sound serious.

Sans looks at him with fake offense, likewise unable to get the happy smirk of his face.

"Do I get a lab coat, though?" He asks, soberly.

"I think that can be arranged, yes." He grips his sons shoulder gently, unable to help the minute feeling of pride blossoming in his empty chest. "But you need to stop looking so incredulous, you're hurting my ego."

"Sorry, Dings. I kind of figured you had forgotten all about that promise." Sans deadpans, ignoring the slight eye-twitch his father gets when he uses that particular nickname.

"I don't forget things..." He says, maybe slightly grumpy. His son gives him a withering look that conveys more than any words possibly could. "I don't forget anything important." He corrects.

Sans decides not to comment.

* * *

"Just stay right here, and I'll be back before you know it." Sans nods, watching his father walk beneath the postal gate towards what is presumably the entrance to the deeper regions of New Home, and Asgore's castle.

It isn't what one would call very fortified. There are two armored guards standing near the entrance, but they seem to be more interested in watching each other than the people making their way in or out the buildings.

Sans lets his eyes wander the crowd instead. There are so many different species of monsters, it's almost overwhelming. Some may look slightly alike, but the diversity is quite simply astounding, and it might be considered a wonder how they co-exist like they do.

A small, yellow blur catches his eyes.

Sans recognizes the girl from his class. He waves and the poor lizard-type monster shrinks in on herself, seeming to want to phase through the floor and out of existence entirely.

No such luck, though. Unlike Sans, she can not bend the laws of physics to her whims.

She opts for waving back timidly, face almost entirely red in color. She perks her head as if she hears something, looking over her shoulder. Sans presumes it's her parents calling for her or something.

The girl sends him an awkward half-shrug, impossibly turning even redder, before running to catch up with her parents, awkwardly adjusting her glasses as she goes.

What was her name again? Alphine or something like that? He can't quite remember. She's always extremely shy in class as well, seemingly wanting nothing more than to sit in the back row and not be noticed by anybody, least of all her classmates.

The only reason Sans knows of her existence at all, is because she is usually the reason he's never on the top of the class rank. Not that he cares about that, not in the slightest.

He just feels bad for her. Every time the teacher does a roll call, the poor lizard monster looks like she's dying a little inside.

He shoves his hands down his pockets while contemplating this.

Wait, hands? Plural?

Wasn't Papyrus just here?

Sans swivels his head to his right. Nothing. Left? Nothing.

"Dad is going to kill me..."

* * *

Papyrus has his face practically glued to the glass, hands pressed against the smooth surface.

His eyes roam the items on display, ranging from books and comics to an entire chair. Papyrus isn't sure why that is there, but the other stuff sure is neat.

"Wowie..." he breathes out loud, more to himself than anybody else.

"Cool, isn't it."

He turns his head in surprise to see that the person who talked, a young female fish-monster, also has her gaze on various trifles in the shop.

The girl looks just a few years older than him, but younger than Sans. She has her fiery red hair up in a ponytail and a slightly manic grin of yellow pointed teeth.

Papyrus decides right then and there that he likes her.

"It's super cool..." He agrees. A whole store dedicated solely to human stuff? If he hadn't already planned his entire future career as a royal guard down to the speech he is going to give when the king officially appoints him captain, he might consider opening a shop himself.

Think of all the amazing stuff he would sell...

"But it's kind of a swindle." The girl huffs, grinning at him.

"A swindle?" He asks curiously, looking at her earnestly.

"Well, duh!" She crosses her arms confidently, smirk only growing. "If you're smart, you can get this stuff for free... at the garbage dump." She bends forward and lowers her voice at the last part, almost as if she's indulging a secret.

"I know about that." Papyrus huffs, puffing out his chest. This girl is obviously a very cool and impressive person. Of course, she should know he is too. "I even found a race car once."

The girl looks slightly impressed, yellow eyes crinkling in amusement. "Really? Too bad we can't drive it down here..."

Papyrus can't help but giggle. "It was just a bed..." He admits sheepishly. "But it was really cool. I want to get it for my room, but it's a bit big to lug around..."

She seems to consider this for a second, before a thought strikes her and she grabs him excitingly, nearly putting him in a choke hold.

"I know! We can go together. The weight of one puny piece of furniture will not stand a chance against the power of our combined strength!"

Papyrus clamps his mouth shut, suddenly embarrassed to admit his predicament. "uuuhm.. I am actually not allowed to go down there anymore. My dad doesn't like it."

The girl seems undeterred by this, shaking him slightly. "What? Pfffff, adults are so lame. We should totally rebel and stuff."

The small skeleton child is about to answer, when he distinctly hears the sound of his name.

Crap, he was only planning to take a quick look, he totally got distracted.

He escapes the fish-monsters grip with some effort, matching her excited grin with one of his own.

"I need to go. My brother is a lazybones, but he can also be a bit... fussy."

"I hear ya." She says, flicking her long red hair back. "But I think we should rebel still... some other time."

He nods eagerly, already running off towards were he left Sans standing just a few minutes before, not wanting to worry his older brother any more than he already has.

"Hey, punk!" The girl calls to him one last time, and he whips around to see her cupping her hands around her mouth to be heard over the noise. "You didn't tell me your name?"

"I'm the great Papyrus!" The skeleton yells back, practically running in place.

She grins at the title, even more sharp incisors revealed as she does so. "Undyne!" She call back, pointing a thumb at herself. "And you better remember my name, because I'm going to be a famous captain one day!"

* * *

"There you are." The older skeleton sounds relieved, calming down now that imminent death is not in his future after all.

Papyrus quickly runs up to his brother, huffing slightly from the effort. Sans takes his hand again, this time very intent not to let go.

"I'm sorry. I got distracted." The small child answers, adjusting his scarf and following Sans back to where their father originally left them.

"Airhead." his brother chides, thought there is obvious humor in his voice.

"Literally. There's nothing in here." Papyrus pats his own skull, and when Sans looks down, it is with a certain degree of unbelieving in his eyes.

"Was that a pun?" He asks softly, and Papyrus narrows his eye sockets right back at him.

"Maybe..."

The crowds are beginning to dwindle down to a trickle by the time their father finally comes back. Sans has found them some sticks, and Papyrus is busy drawing an elaborate hypothetical battle scenario into the ground.

"What are these again?" Sans asks, pointing at the multitude of tiny triangles.

"They're the infantry." Papyrus repeats patiently, adding another battalion for good measure. "These are the fighter robots, and these-"

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

Both boys jump up at their father's voice, play pretend immediately forgotten.

"That's ok." Sans says, and for once he means it. The royal scientist still looks slightly guilty about it for a second, but turns to his youngest son when Papyrus starts talking.

"What did king Fluffybuns say?" the child asks curiously.

His father shakes his head at him. "Nothing that could concern you, Paps."

His son pouts a bit, but gets over it quickly, playing with his stick as he walks.

"But it was a good conversation, I am hopeful we'll make some real progress in the course of this week." Gaster adds, turning to Sans as he does so.

"What does that even mean?" the young skeletons asks, amused frown marring his face. Why must his father always be so cryptic, you'd think he's doing it on purpose.

"Well, for one, it means we're having ketchup pancakes tonight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, Thank you for all the lovely comments I've been getting. it's definably more than I deserve, and they make me oh so happy!


	13. Bad Luck Starts Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, hey. It's been a while, hasn't it? People who have been following me on tumblr know I've been a bit... preoccupied with other stuff. But alas, better late than never, I guess?
> 
> We're really closing in on the end now. This chapter is a bit of a change of pace, and a lot of plot, but it was fun to write, none the less.

"Alright, maybe we should go over this one more time. Don't-"

"Don't wander off alone, don't open any closed doors and don't touch anything." Sans finishes for his father, counting the points out on his fingers as he goes. "But really, if I'm not supposed to touch anything, I'm not sure I'll be a very effective lab assistant, doc." He adds with a little shrug.

Gaster ignores the nickname. "All in due time, but for now I rather you just observe. The amount of damage you could cause with just one error is unimaginable."

Sans nods, even while he is sighing heavily on the inside. He was almost regretting ever getting into this in the first place.

The young monster is eager to finally be able to immerse himself in his father's work. Despite having no intentions of ever really taking over the role as Royal Scientist, science was still of huge interest to Sans, and any idea, however slight, of whatever kept his father so engaged down there only served to feed his curiosity.

"What about Papyrus?" Sans asks, but Gaster makes a dismissive hand gesture.

"He's 6, he should be able to look after himself for a few hours."

Sans turns towards his brother, who's sitting on the couch, cross-legged. "Be good and don't start any fires, ok Paps?"

The child doesn't even react to the joke, just grunts out a non-committal response, completely focused on the book in his lap.

'Complex puzzles for the advanced mind'. Despite his vision-problems, Papyrus was quite adamant on reading it by himself, narrowed sockets squinting slightly at the small text.

Sans is just glad they could stick to the adventures of Fluffy Bunny when it came to bed time stories. At least those books don't give him a headache.

Satisfied that his youngest son wouldn't demolish the house in their absence, Gaster leads the way to the always closed door in their hallway, opening it reverently and allowing Sans to descent the steep stairs ahead of him.

This wasn't the first time the teen went down there by far, but it was the first time he actually did so with permission.

Still, it has been a while, his father spending so much more time here now that he is closer to completing his most recent important project, and Sans is taken aback at the general clutter that used to be a proper lab.

Gaster is normally a pretty orderly monster, with the exception of the hectic and sometimes downright unreadable handwriting. (Papyrus took after their father in both those regards)

"Geeze, and I thought my room was a mess." Sans can't help but comment, eyes moving across the messy tables. They are covered with various, lethal-looking instruments and liquids. There are stains everywhere, and despite the lack of nose, the young skeleton notices a distinctly chemically smell permeating the air.

Maybe he should have brought a gas mask?

"Don't mind those." Gaster seems to dismiss the whole ordeal with a sour look, almost as if the equipment had personally offended the older scientist. "That's just something I've been working on in my free time. I doubt it will lead anywhere."

Sans carefully moves closer to the contraption, ignoring the unease in his none-existent gut at the deep red fluid, color almost too bright to be anything natural.

It fills him with-

"Now this!" He hears his father exclaim behind him, and he hurriedly turns around. "This is something quite marvelous that I think you will find really engaging, Sans."

In another corner of the room, barely visible due to the abhorrent lightning, is a machine.

Literally, just a machine. No matter how much he stares at it, Sans can't seem to make out exactly what it is or what purpose it would serve.

Gaster notices his confusion, a smug smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"What you see before you is a particle manipulator, designed with the sole purpose of altering the flow of the space-time continuum to our liking and displacing ourselves within it's current."

Silence greets the revelation, while the young teen tries to process this information. Then, he laughs.

"You're building a time machine?"

Gaster lets out an undignified sound at his son's less than impressed reaction. "Not a time machine, Sans. That's preposterous."

He pats the cold, metal surface slowly. While the construction is certainly big enough to fit a person, there isn't any space carved out for a possible traveler to go. Rather, the panels are adorned with various buttons and screens, none of which make any sense to Sans himself.

"Instead of manipulating our own position in time, we can use this to alter the timeline _around_ ourselves..." His father explains painstakingly, scanning his son's features in the hopes of seeing understanding reflected back at him.

Sans nods slowly, then shrugs. "So, a time machine?"

With an exasperated sigh, Gaster rolls his eyes. "Yes, in a way. While one may certainly, in theory, use it to travel through time, it's not the intended purpose. Let me simplify things. You are aware of the theory of multiple timelines being on effect on our reality?"

Though not entirely sure why this kind of thing would in any way be relevant, Sans answers in the affirmative, glad to humor his father in wherever this conversation is going.

"Right. So as you're aware, every timeline branches off into a different direction, but they are completely irrelevant. They are not our current timeline, and therefore, while they might minimally affect our present reality, they don't actually matter at all. They represent possibilities of what might have happened, rather than actual occurrences. In this way, they differ from alternate realities of course."

While his father has stopped looking at him, gesticulating wildly as he enthusiastically explains his theorem, Sans nods anyway, dormant interest flickering to life with every word.

Suddenly, Gaster seems to get a far away look in his eyes. His voice sounds hushed, mind elsewhere, even as he continues talking to his son.

"However, there are some who are able to manipulate these branches to their will, jumping between them rather effortlessly. Not only this, but it seems they are actually able to actually alter the timeline we are currently in. In a way, they control this world. With this machine, I-"

"Wait, wait, what?" Sans waves his hands hurriedly, face scrunched up in utter confusion. "Who? What are you talking about, doc?"

Gaster sighs again, getting quite worked up as his voice rises a pitch. "Humans, Sans. It's really not that difficult. I could go on a whole tangent here about the particularities of souls, but that's really besides the point! I need you to pay attention now, for god's sake!"

With an audible click, Sans closes his mouth again. He isn't sure what his father is going on about, but apparently it's a pretty big deal.

"I've completed the base for the core months ago, but have been devoting a majority of my time to this research as it offers the chance of infinite energy production. However, as you see, it has become quite a bit more than that when I stumbled on these unsettling facts."

He approaches suddenly, and the teen feels himself stiffen involuntarily when his father grips his shoulders.

"Listen, Sans. And listen closely." There is an unsettling urgency to his voice now. "This human will have the ability, the means, and the motivation to destroy our entire timeline. You can not let this happen! Do you understand? If I'm not around to intervene, I need you to promise me that you will not allow them to annihilate our reality!"

The hands on his shoulders are painful now, and Sans has to keep himself from actually whimpering, fear stinging at the edges of his soul.

"I-I don't understand. What human? Who are you talking about? Where are you even going? Please, dad, I-"

Gaster lowers his head, expression dark. "You don't _need_ to understand. You will when the time comes. Explaining now would be useless anyway. These events have not even happened yet."

Sans feels the tightness like an actual vice around his throat, tears almost welling up in empty sockets. Then realization hits. And it hits hard.

"W-wait... you've been using it? You've been altering the timeline? Do you have any idea how dangerous-"

Gaster shakes him lightly, shoulders hunched up and frame uncharacteristically tense, all former joy faded away. "No, Sans. Just... Just watching. There is no certainty. A lot might only be snippets of things that will never occur. Just possibilities, remember? It's all irrelevant anyway. Everything is." He tries to smile, but it looks empty and dead, like part of him is gone already.

Words refuse to come out, so Sans just stands in stunned silence.

Suddenly, the atmosphere changes and his father lets go, blinking several times, as if to rid his vision of an annoying blur.

He looks at Sans, and it's like there's a completely different person in front of him.

"Right. We should probably get some actual work done, shouldn't we? How about we start with something easy? I think there are still some samples over here that need sorting. You've used a microscope before, of course..."

As Gaster starts walking away from him, as if nothing happened, Sans tries hard to calm his raging soul and trembling hands.

Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong.

He looks at the machine in the corner, and it's as if the entire world stutters. As if it stops being itself for the barest of seconds.

Then, it's over, and he shudders.

Something is definitely wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so extremely grateful for all the lovely comments I receive from you guys. Thank you tons.
> 
> Find me on tumblr as: sharada-n


	14. How We Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter than the previous ones, but basically it's the beginning of the end, so...  
> The next one will be the final installment. Stay tuned!

"Do you think he will like it?"

Papyrus is brandishing an almost dangerous looking contraption of straws and paper at him. Sans isn't sure what it's supposed to represent, but he nods anyway.

"I'm sure he'll love it." He lies, taking advantage of his little brother's rare moment of inactivity to straighten the sleeves on his bright yellow sweater.

Papyrus waits for him to finish before going to place the... whatever it is on the table, taking care to display it in such a way as to be pleasing to his critical artistic eye.

Sans watches him silently, mouth set in a tight little frown.

It has been about a week since his official introduction as lab assistant, and all in all, he hadn't done much more than fetch things and stare at his father mumbling as he wrote feverishly.

Sans was getting increasingly worried about Gaster's sanity.

They hardly spoke at all anymore, the royal scientist had all but ignored Papyrus for the past days too, and the young skeleton wasn't sure what to think about the sudden change in his father's behavior.

"He'll be home soon, right?" Papyrus suddenly asks, the barest edge of uncertainty to his voice. He's fiddling with his hands and looking at the floor, trying not to let his distress show.

Sans doesn't know what to do, so he lies some more. "Of course, Paps. He'll be here any moment"

_'He has to.'_

There's a loud rumbling noise, and the ground shakes minutely beneath them. With a small whimper, Papyrus attaches himself to his brother's side, burying his face in that familiar blue hoodie.

Sans pets him slowly, trying not to seem concerned.

It has been like this for the past few hours, and while he had easily explained it away as something harmless at first, the elder brother was getting more worried as the trembles grow more severe with time.

He opens his mouth to say some reassuring words, when the door suddenly flies open.

Gaster barely seems to see them, moving past them in a rush, heading straight for his lab. The door thumps against the wall loudly in his wake, and Sans can feel Papyrus go tense in his grasp.

There's the sound of shattering glass, papers being pushed out of the way and onto the ground in a flurry and their father mumbling to himself.

Sans can feel his soul growing tight in his chest, sinking feeling of foreboding taking over.

Something is wrong indeed.

A few moments later, the royal scientist reappears, arms full of documents.

He stands in the middle of the living room and darts his head around as if in search of something.

"Daddy?" Papyrus suddenly pipes up. He tears away from Sans' grasp before the other can stop him, clinging to his father's lab coat instead. "Dad, what's-"

Gaster interrupts him with a hand gesture, still scanning the room. His eyes fall on something on the counter and he smiles, easily shaking his youngest son off him when he moves over to pick up the papers.

"I was wondering where I left those." He says, more to himself than either of his children.

Almost as if in a trance, he moves towards their front door again, but Sans bars the way quickly.

"Dad, what are you doing?" His voice is unusually stern, no trace of patience left.

The royal scientist blinks at him as if it's the first time he's noticed them in the room, frowning hard.

"I just came back to retrieve something. They need me back at the lab." He moves in an effort to brush past his son, but Sans steps in his way again, hands clenched.

"What do you mean 'they need you'. You said you were going to come home early tonight. Did you forget we-"

"Sans, I don't have time for your stupid nonsense right now." His father pushes past him then, actually physically pushes, and the young skeleton finds himself stunned into silence by the sudden action.

"I'll speak to you later tonight." Their father quickly says, then the door slams behind him and he's gone again.

The two children stand in stunned silence for a few seconds, at a loss for what to do.

Then, Papyrus slowly walks over to the table, picks up his hand-crafted gift, and deposits it into the trash bin. "I guess father's day just got cancelled, huh."

* * *

The house shakes around them, the sounds almost deafening by now.

Sans holds his little brother closer, crushes him against his chest as if that could somehow protect him from everything. They're sitting on the couch, completely huddled beneath a soft blanket, hiding from the world.

The power failed them a while ago, nothing but darkness surrounding them.

The core.

Something is wrong with the core.

Something is wrong with their father.

Something is very, very wrong.

And Sans is scared.

"I'm scared." Papyrus whispers, and Sans can feel him shaking against him, small body almost trembling as much as the ground currently is.

There are tears stinging at the edges of his eye sockets and the elder brother can feel them through his shirt.

But he set his mouth into a tight grin, tries to make his voice sound as reassuring as possible.

"It's ok, paps. Everything will be ok. It will pass."

Papyrus turns around in his arms, tries to look up at him to see his face. "Do you promise?"

Sans can't look at him. He just can't.

"Of course I promise. We'll always be together, bro."

The last thing he thinks about before drifting off to sleep, is how much he resents his father right now.


	15. Forgetable

When they wake up, everything is quiet again.

They're lying on the couch, Papyrus sprawled half on top of Sans himself, and the blanket is covering them completely.

His little brother is snoring softly, barely moving in his slumber, and the older skeleton is hesitant to wake him up.

But something is nagging at the back of his mind.

Something fuzzy and terrible that makes his soul feel tight.

"Papyrus... Papyrus, wake up." he shakes his little brother's shoulder gently, until the small skeleton blinks open large, empty sockets.

They detangle themselves from the blanket with some trouble, staring around the still dark room. According to the clock, it's almost six in the morning.

"What's going on?" Papyrus mumbles. He's holding the blanket as if he wants nothing more than to get back to sleep.

The lights are off. Something is making noises in the distance, but they're not loud enough to be distinguished.

Everything feels wrong somehow.

"Papyrus..." Sans breathes, and his head is darting around faster now, fear clogging his throat. "Papyrus, who do we live with in this house?"

Papyrus stares at him, non-comprehending. "What do you mean? We live together, silly."

"Yeah, I know but... _who_ do we live with." His eyes start scanning the walls, looking for pictures, names, anything.

There's a foggy spot in his mind that itches.

"I don't know." Papyrus says, and Sans already realized before he heard it.

He doesn't know either.

The fear gets more tangible, more real.

He casts his mind back in a vain attempt to recall anything. He knows who he is. He knows who Papyrus is. He knows they are brothers. He knows they have been living in this house for their entire lives now.

But two children can't live alone. There had to be someone here. A parent. A guardian. Anyone.

Why don't they remember? _Who_ don't they remember?

Thinking about it makes his head hurt. It fills his mind with flashes of pain and memories. Something that clogs his throat and makes it hard to swallow.

"Sans?" His brother asks, and his voice is trembling, a building realization that something is definitely not okay.

"Never mind, it's fine." He quickly says, tugging the blanket from his brother's curled fists. "Hey, Paps. How about we go on a little vacation?"

The child looks at him dubiously, hesitance written all over his features. "Where are we going?"

Sans grins, tries to keep the corners from wavering.

"Don't worry, bro. It'll be fun."

* * *

There are three rooms upstairs. One for each of them, and then another one that belongs to whomever used to-

It hurts. Thinking about it hurts.

While Papyrus picks which books to bring with them back in his room, Sans searches through the drawers.

There are adult clothes, tons and tons of them. They all look very formal, black and white, and Sans can't remember if he has seen them before.

He thinks not, but it makes his soul beat faster anyway.

The bed feels cold, empty. The entire room looks like nobody lives here.

There is still no name to be seen anywhere.

He takes a quick detour to his own room and gathers some of his stuff: his favorite blue hoodie, a book or two he found at the garbage heap the other day. He shoves them into a battered old backpack he finds in the closet and goes to find his brother again.

Papyrus looks at him as he shoves the few things he picked out in the pack too. More books, the puzzle cube,...

"We're not coming back, are we?" Papyrus asks, and his voice is small, scared. Sans wishes he had any kind of reassuring answer.

"I'm... I'm not sure yet. I'm sorry, Paps."

His little brother nods, grabbing the big, fluffy, red scarf he favors from the bed, and wrapping it around his throat tightly.

* * *

There isn't a lot of food in the kitchen. They eat their fill, as much as they can, both realizing somewhere in the back of their mind it's uncertain when their next proper meal will be.

They stuff the remaining space in the backpack full of food and water, until it's heavy and bulky and Papyrus can barely lift it.

There's only one room left to check now.

"Stay here until I'm back, ok?" Sans squeezes his brother's hand quickly. "Don't go anywhere."

Papyrus nods, tapping his foot. He watches as Sans opens the door and descends into the dark cellar beyond.

Sans doesn't understand half of the things he finds down there. There are notes and diagrams, none of which make even the slightest of sense to him.

His fingers brush over the tables and there's no dust.

Somebody spent a lot of time here.

There's a machine in the corner that means something to him.

He's not sure what, it still hurts to try and think about it, but Sans knows it's important.

But the thing is big and there is no way in hell he'd be able to carry it around with him, even if he wanted to.

Luckily, whomever worked on it did so recently, because Sans doesn't need to look far to find the blueprints. They look incredibly complicated, but he pockets them anyway, not being able to shake the feeling that somehow these will be important.

He stares around the room one last time. At the unsettling red liquid in glass tubes. The papers strewn across every surface. The machines and the metal.

Something colorful catches his eye.

Digging through the papers, Sans finds one that doesn't seem to belong with the rest. It's white and crinkled and a child made a drawing on it.

Papyrus made a drawing on it.

It's a picture of them. Of him and Sans and... someone.

Someone they don't remember.

Someone they have forgotten.

His hand itches, his head hurts, and everything is hazy and strange to him.

There's a pen on the floor and he grasps it with shaking fingers.

 _Don't forget_.

But he knows it's too late. It's already far too late.

* * *

Papyrus is waiting exactly where Sans left him. He's staring at his feet and fiddling with his scarf, not saying a word.

The elder brother shoves the blueprints and the drawing into the backpack too, before swinging the hefty thing onto his back.

Then, he takes his little brother's hand in his and the two skeleton children walk out of the house, not looking back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments, guys. Only the epilogue left now!


	16. New Home

The snow has been falling steadily for days now, a downpour of white coldness. At the edge of town, two small figures are trying to struggle their way through it.

"How much further?" the youngest one asks, tiredness evident in his voice. They have been walking for almost 2 days now, without any food or rest.

His brother wipes some snow from his blue hoodie, a stark contrast to the muted color palette of the world around them. "It should be somewhere around here." He answers.

In the far distance, they can barely make out a light. The dull illumination signaling a half-deserted town at the edge of the Underground.

But for the two starving skeleton children, it is a sight for sore eyes. For them, it means warmth. It means food.

It means a new home.

* * *

All his customers left hours ago. Grillby is just wiping down the counter one last time, making sure everything is in order.

He looks over the establishment almost fondly, he started his business not too long ago and already it is a booming success.

With a frown, he removes the bag from the trashcan, patting himself down once more, grabbing the key from a hook on the wall, and finally moving to open the door to the little patch at the back of the building.

Then, he stops dead in the doorway.

The waste container is lying on its side, trash strewn everywhere, and faint sounds can be heard from within.

For a moment, Grillby is unsure of what to do. He has never heard of vermin in the Underground before, and he's unsure what is digging through his garbage right now.

A little head pokes out.

"Sans, I found half a hot dog!" It declares, then locks eyes with the fire monster still standing at the door.

They stare at each other for a few moments, before the child smiles at him. "Hello, who are you?"

He barely gets the time to answer before another small figure rounds the corner.

"Papyrus, who are you talking to?" The teen starts, before noticing Grillby too and likewise freezing, all be it in a more hostile manner.

The kid looks about a second away from actually baring his teeth at him.

"Papyrus, come here now." He says, voice dangerously low, empty sockets trained on Grillby as if ready to lash out at any suspicious move.

The bartender can't help but notice the child's right eye is glowing a faint blueish color.

"But Sans, he gave me a hotdog." The small one complains, holding the moldy piece of discarded food as if it was a literally gift from the heavens.

Grillby can't quite find his voice to correct him.

"Papyrus, now!" The other child demands, commanding clear in his voice, and the skeleton starts crawling from the trash as if this is the most normal thing in the world.

The fire monster figured by now these must be brothers, and although they are about the same height, the one in the hoodie must be the elder one.

As soon as his little brother has reached his side, the older child starts backing away slowly, not for an instant turning his focus elsewhere.

Grillby is momentarily shocked out of his stupor, as he realizes they will probably leave if he doesn't do anything.

"Wait." He says, hoping that his naturally soft voice will carry over the roaring wind. Apparently it does, because the two children stop in their retreat, eyeing him wearily.

"Don't you... wouldn't you want to come inside for a bit? It's awfully cold out here."

The youngest, Papyrus as Grillby heard the other call him, seems hopeful for a second, but stays hidden behind his brother still, reluctant to accept the offer without his brother's permission.

Sans, as the other seems to be called, is a lot more suspicious too, watching the fire monster in silence as if waiting for him to offer more.

"Just for a moment, at least? You must be chilled to the bone. I got some cinnamon buns left over from earlier today too." He tries, voice warm.

And apparently it's working, because the tiny frame relaxes a bit at the mention of food, and the joke even earns him a small grin.

His eyes seems to search over Grillby for a moment, as if assessing if this person could be a threat to them, then he nods tightly.

* * *

They almost look ridiculous like that, perched on the high chairs in front of his bar.

Papyrus looks in danger of falling off at any second, bouncing on his seat happily and stuffing his face with pastries. By the sheer joy of his expression, Grillby can't help but wonder when the last time was these children had a proper meal.

Sans looks a lot more on guard, carefully sipping the hot chocolate the bar owner prepared for them and taking small bites, as if expecting somebody to rip the food away from him at any second.

He glances at his little brother continually, keeping a close eye on him, but seemingly content that he is happy for now.

Grillby doesn't think he's much older than 14 at most, while Papyrus might be just around the age of his own daughter.

The atmosphere feels tense between them, charged, and he tries to distract himself by polishing a glass that wasn't even dirty in the first place.

Eventually, he can't keep his tongue any longer.

"Care to tell me what the two of you were doing out all alone on a night like this." His voice is soft, like a crackling fire. Grillby doesn't really use it often, but he'll make an exception.

"Not particularly, no." Sans deadpans, but his little brother pokes him in the side for his rudeness.

"We're just on our way somewhere." He adds, cradling the cup with two hands.

Grillby raises an eyebrow, as much as that is possible with his fire-based biology. "On your way where?"

Papyrus shrugs a bit, smiling at the liquid. "We don't know..."

Since no more explanation seems to be forthcoming, the bartender lets out a little sigh. "And where do you come from then?"

The youngest brother opens his mouth to answer, but Sans interrupts him quickly.

"Nowhere." He says, raising a sharp gaze as if to dare Grillby to question him. "We don't come from anywhere."

"What about your parents?" He tries, the glass now loosely held in his hand, completely abandoned.

The children exchange a look, and Papyrus shrugs again. "We don't really have any. We have each other though." He grins widely.

They return to silence for a little while. Grillby swallows, not sure if his next question is a good idea, or if he's about to get into something way over his head.

"If you got nowhere to go and nowhere to return to... why don't you just stay here?"

Sans looks up so fast he can practically hear his spine creak. Papyrus looks at him from the corner of his eye, as if waiting for approval.

He stares at Grillby, seems to be looking right through him.

"Alright, why don't we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND IT'S DONE! A big thank you for sticking by me for the ride and to everybody who commented along the way. You guys are the absolute best.
> 
> I'm actually considering writing a sequel for this, something that covers the brother's childhood in Snowdin, dealing with Gaster, the machine and Flowey's runs up until the actual start of the game, but we'll see about that.
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://sharada-n.tumblr.com/)


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